The 77-year-old Samreboi-Amoaku steel bridge, which was repaired in September after being damaged by a truck, collapsed on Friday, trapping a truck heavily loaded with bags of cocoa that was transporting the cocoa from Mumuni to Samreboi.
According to a video shared on social media platform X, several bags of cocoa worth several thousands of Ghana Cedis sank into the Samre River, but fortunately, there were no casualties.
Samreboi is a cocoa-producing area in Wassa Amenfi West District. The Cocoa Nti Campaign in Samreboi educates cocoa farmers on good farming practices and how to use fertilizer to increase their yields. The campaign also helps farmers understand the business side of cocoa farming. Ghana is the second-largest producer of cocoa in the world, after Côte d'Ivoire. Cocoa is mainly produced in family-run plantations in the western part of the country. However, illegal mining and deforestation have had a negative impact on cocoa production in Ghana. Illegal miners have encroached on farmlands and polluted water bodies, making it difficult for farmers to access clean water for farming.