Farmers urged not to sell cocoa farms for galamsey

Ayiem (W/R)-Ghana, March 25, GNA – Mr Samuel Asare Ankamah, Deputy Executive Director in charge of Agronomy at Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has urged cocoa farmers to desist from the practice of selling out their farmlands for galamsey activities.
He noted with concern how some traditional and community leaders were neck deep in facilitating the selling out of cocoa farmlands for galamsey activities without the consent of some of the farmers due to land tenure systems.
Mr Asare Ankamah disclosed this to Ghana News Agency at Ayiem during a working tour of the Western-South Cocoa Region.
He was accompanied by the Director in charge of Operations at the office the Deputy Executive Director, Mr Samuel Essuman and Manager of the Western-South Region, Mr Samuel Osei and Mr Emmanuel Adjei, Deputy Western-South Manager during a working tour of some cocoa farms in the Mpohor and Huni-Valley Districts.
Mr Asare Ankamah bemoaned how galamsey activities continued to destroy cocoa farms in many of the cocoa farming communities.
The situation, he observed, had compelled innocent farmers who were not ready to give out their farmlands for galamsey activities to do so due to the rippling effects of galamsey on adjoining cocoa farms.
Earlier, the Deputy Executive Director had interacted with cocoa farmers at Anomawobidi on the need to engage in sound farming practices such as pruning, pollination, weeding and planting of economic shade trees on their farms to maximize yield as part of the Cocoa Rehabilitation and Enhancement Programmes by COCOBOD.
He said COCOBOD had set up an office under the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to deal with invasion of cocoa farms by galamsey activities.
Mr Asare Ankamah said COCOBOD had outsourced two companies; Kumad Global and Afarinck Limted to engage labour to maintain cocoa farms of ageing farmers.
COCOBOD has also decided to engage labour to weed and prune under cocoa farms or pay farmers who can weed under their own.
Manager of Western-South Cocoa Region, Mr Samuel Osei assured farmers that COCOBOD had intentions to revive the cocoa industry.
Mr Osei said Extension Officers would visit cocoa farmers regularly to educate them on approved chemicals to apply on their farms among other sound farming practices.