Ghana moves to jail farmers found repurposing cocoa land illegally

Ghana’s parliament has passed a bill that could send cocoa farmers to prison for up to 20 years, if they convert their farms to other uses without government’s approval.

According to a copy of the bill seen by The Associated Press, the new measure was passed, but the President, John Mahama, has not yet signed the law.

The legislation would give all cocoa farms protected status, making it a criminal offence to repurpose them for anything else without authorisation, drawing criticism from farmers.

“If the law stands as it is now, it’s not fair,” said the Administrator of the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association Limited and a cocoa farmer, Moses Asiedu.

Many farmers invest their own money to acquire land, clear it, and maintain cocoa farms for years before earning any income, yet receive little government support, said Asiedu.

“If cocoa is a national asset, then the farmer should also be supported to cover some of the cost of production”, he said.

The toughest penalties target illegal gold mining, with a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years, and a heavy fine for each affected cocoa tree.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers in West Africa rely on cocoa farming for a living. In neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire, cocoa bean exports make up 40% of the total export revenue. In Ghana, they make up nearly 15%.

Government regulators set a fixed price for the cocoa bean at the beginning of every planting season, and the majority of the beans are sold through government-licenced parties to protect farmers from price fluctuations on the international market.

However, after a surge in cocoa futures in 2024 on international markets, the futures, a contract to buy a commodity at an agreed-upon price on a future date reached more than US$12,000 per metric ton, the highest in decades. Then it crashed to around US$4,000, as supply outstripped demand.