President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to introduce legislative measures aimed at protecting cocoa farms from illegal mining, emphasizing the long-term economic benefits of cocoa cultivation over short-term mining gains. "We have to ensure that people are not cutting down cocoa trees to mine gold.
Once the land is mined out, it becomes useless, whereas cocoa trees can yield revenue for 30 years or more.
It makes more sense to preserve cocoa farms than to mine the land and render it barren for future generations," he stated.
Speaking after a courtesy call from the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee, and Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE), Mahama underscored the urgent need to prevent further destruction of cocoa farms, which serve as a major pillar of Ghana's economy.
