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| Cocoa farm |
Due to galamsey, cocoa farmers now bring water from home to the farm—Fiifi Boafo
The Ghana Cocoa Board's head of public affairs, Fifi Boafo, claims that unlawful mining operations in water bodies have forced cocoa farmers to carry water to their various plantations from their homes for consumption.
According to him, this resulted in high operational costs for cocoa producers because they would have to pay more for the water's conveyance.
Although this increases the difficulty of farming, it is the only way to guarantee that the cocoa beans are produced meet the highest standards.
Mr. Boafo pointed out that if "galamsey" practices continue, the nation runs the risk of losing cocoa revenue.
Farmers must now transport water from their homes to the farms in order to combine their fungicides and pesticides before they can spray their cocoa farms because the water sources in the farming communities are not suitable for spraying.
Therefore, the cost of operating a cocoa field is high right now, and a farmer who doesn't make much money from his business now has to spend more," he said.
According to Mr. Boafo, the statistics on the devastation of cocoa fields, which is primarily caused by illegal mining, are "frightening."
"So it's obvious that these guys are occupying cocoa plantations daily and using the land for illicit mining. The data we have made available comes from the year's first quarter.
Mr. Boafo claims that certain traditional chiefs steal land from cocoa farmers, many of whom are not alludial owners and do not come from the village, and give it to illegal miners.
He mentioned that farmers going through this trauma have access to COCOBOD's legal staff.
"Of course at present, what we are doing is that\sour legal team is available to help such farmers\swho are going through such difficulty."