Members of the Fair Trade Ghana Network are calling on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ghana Cocoa Board and traditional leaders of the current six cocoa growing regions in Ghana to collaborate in declaring all cocoa growing areas as “no-go zones” for all forms of mining and other negative environmental activities.

Cocoa employs approximately 800,000 farm families spread over six of the 16 regions of Ghana.

The crop generates about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually and is a major contributor to government revenue and GDP.

In 2021, in real terms, the contribution of cocoa to Gross Domestic Product was ¢3.1 billion.

Despite these benefits of the sector to Ghana’s economy, Cocoa production is riddled with illegal small-scale gold mining (popularly called “galamsey”).

Speaking on the sidelines of the Fair Trade Awareness Creation Event, President of the Network, Florence Blankson reiterated the threat illegal mining poses to the sustenance of Ghana’s cocoa sector as well as other production areas.

“Fair Trade Ghana Network has been around for a while but we still think people need to know more about Fair Trade and its role, what it means to be part of the network and what it does for members. We’re looking at government doing a lot for the cocoa sector especially with the increasing menace of illegal mining. Cocoa farmers are losing their livelihoods to galamsey and other developmental projects. If we don’t take care, we will get to a time we won’t have farmers venturing into cocoa farming because it will not be beneficial,” she said.

Fair Trade Ghana Network organised an awareness event at the Pentecost University. Regional Head of West Africa for Fair Trade, Edward Akapire explained the purpose for the event and its impact on the youth.

“For us this is a very important event because the event is more about creating awareness of Fair Trade especially among the youth. We’re targeting young people in the universities to deepen their understanding about agriculture and motivate them to go into agriculture,” he disclosed.

A cocoa farmer who is a member of the Fair Trade Ghana Network, Emmanuel Sarpong lists some of the projects he has undertaken in his community using premiums earned from Fairtrade.

“We have the first premium in 2012 and from that time, we have been able to support the communities in which we work. In one of the communities, we built a quarters for nurses of a government hospital, in another community we have renovated schools and bought computers, we have also put a nice water project at Mpomease, among others. So I’m urging all farmers to join Fair Trade,” he said.

A significant number of cocoa farmers whose livelihoods have over the past decades depended on cocoa farming have been compelled to abandon several acres of their cocoa farms due to illegal small-scale gold mining activities. If the menace is not addressed tactically, Ghana risks losing its position of being the second exporter of cocoa worldwide.