The Public Affairs Manager at Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Fiifi Boafo, says illegal mining (galamsey) is adversely affecting cocoa production numbers.

According to him, if the current trend of devastation by illegal miners is not stopped, the cocoa sector will suffer severely in the future.

He further opined that the illegal miners are intrepidly taking their activities to huge investments by COCOBOD in cocoa-growing areas across the country.

“Some of the illegal miners use other coercive means of taking over the cocoa farms. Some go to the traditional authorities who force usually the migrant farmers to say I gave you the land so I’m taking over my land. And then they give these lands to the illegal miners. Sometimes they (illegal miners) start digging the farm before the owners realize,’’ Mr. Boafo lamented in an interview with Joy News.

“In a very worrying trend, some diseased cocoa farms, COCOBOD had to sponsor to get these farms to start afresh. Just when the farms started seeing some flowers, the illegal miners have gone to clear everything. That is the extent of danger this illegal mining poses to our industry,” he added.

Mr. Boafo also stated that if illegal mining is allowed to continue without punishment, the country’s cocoa industry will be in danger. If the current trajectory of devastation by illegal miners is not overturned, it could land a devastative blow with a long-term bleak future for the cocoa sector.

Compared to the posturing and pronouncements of President Akufo-Addo towards the illegality back in 2017, swiftly followed by the deployment of Operation Vanguard to the mining regions of the country, the fight against illegal mining in recent years appears to have run out of steam. Eco-friendly organizations and the general population have had cause to call on the government to take action to prevent further damage to the environment.

Illegal mining and the fight against the same, have gone full circle with very little to show after administrative interventions and other deployments. Stakeholders in the fight against illegal mining including Security operatives, the Minerals Commission, ministries, and other stakeholders must put their shoulders to the wheel in the fight against the illegal mining fight.

If the political class sits on the fence to allow illegal mining to continue unchecked, the danger it will have on the cocoa industry will go beyond the households of individual cocoa farmers.