Some Civil Society Organizations are pushing for an immediate halt of cocoa farming activities within Ghana’s forests.
The groups complain that although farming activities in some forests were allowed in 2010, some farmers have invaded the forests due to lack of monitoring.
A research by Tropenbos Ghana showed that deforestation in three reserves namely, Krokosua Hills, Sui River and Tano Offin between 2010 and 2019 were in seven folds.
The Tano Offin forest in the Ashanti Region for instance has lost about 33% of its resources to such activities from 2010 to 2019.
Kokosua Hill in the Greater Accra Region has also lost 31% of its forest within the same period, while Sui River lost 14% of its cover.
“Past and present governments have not had the courage to deal with cocoa encroachment into forest reserves due to the commodity’s contribution to the economy, and the large scale nature of the encroachment. Ghana stands to lose more forests from cocoa encroachment in the coming years if those activities continue,” Daniel Kofi Abu, Project Manager for civil society group, Tropenbos Ghana told Citi Business News.
In a Policy Brief, the CSOs asked government to resource the Forestry commission to halt these activities. They also want the law banning farming in forests reserves enforced.
“Although cocoa production is one of the greatest contributors to agriculture expansion, it is also a major contributor to deforestation, and the earlier we draw the line between the two, the better for all of us,” stated Mr. Abu.
The group also wants chiefs, politicians and other stakeholders to be encouraged to lead the fight against cocoa encroachment into forest reserves.