Cocoa Farmer Rescinds Decision To Cut Down Cocoa Trees For Galamsey In Video: “I’ll Never Do That”

• A 62-year-old cocoa farmer who threatened to cut down his cocoa trees for galamsey is in the news again
• The elderly farmer, in a U-turn, says he has rescinded his earlier decision to cut down the trees
• He has vowed never to return to the illegal mining menace after officials of COCOBOD engaged him extensively

A cocoa farmer in Kunsu in the Ashanti Region who threatened to cut down all his cocoa trees for galamsey is in the news again.

In a U-turn, the 62-year-old Akwasi Fordjour rescinded that decision to convert his entire farmland to the more lucrative galamsey site.

COCOBOD Engages 62-year-old Cocoa Farmer Who Threatened To Cut Down His Cocoa Trees For Galamsey

This follows extensive engagements from officials of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) after a video of the man attributing his current poverty status to the low income from cocoa compared to illegal mining.

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Cocoa sector: Illegal mining has affected only 2% of farmland – Agric Minister

An elated Mr. Fordjour narrated to Accra-based TV3 how officials of COCOBOD have promised to rehabilitate his over-aged cocoa farm and introduce him to other food crops, so he gets the needed revenue to cushion him for life.

“I’ll never do that again because I needed help and now they are here to help me. I’ll never do that galamsey work again. I’ll do the cocoa work to help the nation.”

The elderly aged farmer in the viral video lamented how he has grown the cash crop for the past 40 years yet could not boast of anything substantial.

He then declared his intention to raze down his entire cocoa farm and turn it into a mining site since that had potential and could get him the needed overnight riches.

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Cocoa: EU rep insists there will be no ban on cash crop despite ravaging effects of illegal mining

Ghana Likely To Miss Cocoa Production Target For 2022

Though Ghana produced a record 1.4 million tonnes of cocoa beans in the 2020-2021 season, the country is likely to miss out on its production target this year due in part to the ravaging effects of the illegal mining menace.

Several acres of farmland are being lost to the activities of the miners, popularly referred to as galamsey.

Farmers have abandoned their main preoccupation and opted for galamsey pits from the north to the south, east, and west, especially in cocoa-growing areas.

According to food and agric experts, bare lands which used to be littered with green lush environmental cocoa necessary for the cocoa trees to thrive have been devastated and polluted by the hunt for gold.

Galamsey Menace: Only 2% Of Cocoa Land Badly Impacted – Agric Minister Owusu Afriyie Akoto

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, had revealed the percentage of cocoa farmlands affected by the illegal mining menace in the country.

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Galamsey: Samples of water from polluted river bodies including Tano, Bia and Ankobra mistaken for fruit juices

According to him, only 2% of cocoa lands have been badly affected by the activities of illegal small-scale miners.

Source: YEN.com.gh