Ghana may lose its position as one of the best exporters of cocoa to neigbouring countries if swift measures are not taken to address the issues of encroachment by some real estate developers.

This is according to the Fair Trade Ghana Network’s recent report.

According to the President of the network, Florence Blankson, deforestation and illegal mining activities are already posing a threat to cocoa farmers, hence the government should intensify its efforts in addressing issues affecting the cocoa sector.

Speaking to Joy Business at the 6th Annual General Meeting of Fair Trade Ghana Network, she argues that the government has not been proactive enough to tackle issues affecting the sector.

She bemoaned the ineffectiveness of government’s agencies in engaging these players within the sector for sustainability.

“The “galamsey” is an issue, felling down of trees are also issues and some real estate developers are taking over cocoa farmlands and if we don’t take care, very soon we may lose our position as one of the exporters of cocoa globally”.

“When we went around the water bodies they were all like tea and I wonder where we are going with this”, She said

According to Statista, in 2022, the export value of cocoa beans and cocoa products from Ghana amounted to about $2.3 billion, which was a decrease of 19.0% from the preceding year.

 Within the observed period, the highest value of the exports was achieved in 2021, with approximately $2.84 billion U.S. Cocoa beans and cocoa products are a very important commodity in Ghana, as it represents a large percentage of Ghana's exports.

The Fair Trade Ghana Network is a membership-based organisation championing sustainable agriculture and handicraft production in the fair trade environment in Ghana.

It is a national network of fair trade certified farmers, handicraft producers, and hired labour organisations.

The network focuses on programmes in the following areas for the benefit of its members: