Illegal Mining Leaves Tonnes of Cocoa to Rot in Central Region

Several tonnes of harvested cocoa are going to waste on farms at Mfantseman in the Upper Denkyira East District of the Central Region following the destruction of the main access road to the farming communities by illegal mining activities.

The damaged route, caused by years of galamsey operations, has made it extremely difficult for farmers to transport their produce from the farms to buying centres.

Open mining pits, many of them filled with large volumes of water, pose serious safety risks to farmers who attempt to carry cocoa out of the farms.

As a result, farmers say they are forced to transport only small quantities of cocoa at a time to avoid the danger of drowning, leaving much of their harvested produce to rot on the farms.

Osei Yaw, a cocoa farmer who spoke to citi news, said the situation has been worsened by the departure of local youth from farming-related work into illegal mining.

“Previously, we relied on manual labour to cart our produce from the farms, but many of the youth have now developed a strong interest in galamsey and are no longer available for hiring. Because of this, a large portion of our cocoa is left to rot on the farms,” he said.

Following the decline in manual labour, farmers turned to tricycles as an alternative means of transporting cocoa. However, that option has also become unreliable.

Ben Yorke, a former assemblyman for the area and a cocoa farmer, said the destruction of farm routes has made it impossible for tricycles to access the farms.

“The tricycles can no longer reach our farms, so we are left with no option but to abandon the cocoa there. We are incurring huge losses,” he lamented.

He further warned that the long-term sustainability of cocoa farming in the area is under serious threat due to environmental degradation caused by illegal mining.

“Very soon, our cocoa trees may begin to wither because the rivers and streams we depended on to care for our farms have been heavily polluted. Some of these water bodies can no longer even be traced,” Mr. Yorke added.

Despite ongoing anti-galamsey operations in other parts of the country, farmers in Mfantseman are questioning why their area has not seen similar interventions.

Kwasi Ameyaw, another distressed farmer, called on government and security agencies to urgently intervene.

“We don’t understand why none of the operational teams have come here to deal with the galamseyers. This is beyond a security issue; our livelihoods are at stake. We are appealing to the government to come to our aid,” he said.

Sources within the community have alleged that an individual known only as “IGP” is behind the illegal mining activities in the area, further deepening concerns among residents.