The Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Mr. Stephen Fiifi Boafo has warned about the repercussions of cocoa farmers abandoning their business by selling their farms to illegal miners for galamsey activities
Mr Boafo stated that the dangerous socio-economic consequences that illegal mining is posing to the future livelihoods of cocoa farmers in the country need to be addressed with urgency and tasked the farmers to play a significant role in averting this from happening.
According to him, illegal miners are depriving farmers of their lifetime earnings, as well as legacies that could benefit their generations.
Fiifi Boafo indicated that though these illegal miners make juicy promises to cocoa farmers, luring them to give away their cocoa farms, these innocent farmers have ended up impoverished with nothing to depend on upon retirement.
The Head of Public Affairs on behalf of the COCOBOD called on cocoa farmers to resist any attempt by illegal miners to convince them to sell off their lands which eventually deprives them of their lifetime investments.
He raised these concerns when he addressed a ceremony organised by the management of Goldfields Ghana Limited at Damang to hand over agro-inputs to some beneficiary cocoa farmers in their catchment communities.
Mr Boafo reminded farmers about the several measures the government, in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board and the National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), is implementing to better the lives of cocoa farmers, especially in retirement.
“The introduction of the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme is meant to secure your future and provide you with a decent means of livelihood when you retire. As with other pension schemes, your monthly earnings will depend on your contributions which means that if you sell off your cocoa farms for mining activities, you are denying yourself and future generations the opportunity to earn decent livelihoods”, he added.
He noted that apart from introducing the Pension Scheme, COCOBOD is also implementing several interventions such as cocoa mass spraying, cocoa rehabilitation, pruning, hand pollination and highly subsidized fertilisers to support farmers.
These, according to him, come at a huge cost to Government, hence the need to safeguard the future of the cocoa industry by eradicating illegal mining.
Mr Fiifi Boafo, therefore, expressed joy at the gesture extended to cocoa farmers by Goldfields Ghana Limited under their Cocoa Farmers Foundation Support Programme, adding that it is worth emulating by other mining companies.
He noted that over the years both mining and cocoa production had co-existed peacefully until the upsurge of activities of illegal mining.
Mr Fiifi Boafo was of the view that the example of Goldfields Ghana Limited is an attestation that responsible mining can go a long way to help improve our ecosystem and support other environmental activities, including farming.
“Let me take this opportunity to commend the management of Goldfields Ghana Limited for this kind gesture to our cocoa farmers. It is my hope that our beneficiary farmers will respond the same by meticulously applying these inputs on their farms in order to obtain yields.”
Meanwhile, about 240 beneficiary farmers received agro inputs under the Gold Fields Ghana Farmers Foundation Support Programme.
