Cocoa Farmers Protest Against Traditional Leaders Over Farmland Sale To Private Developer

Over 2,000 cocoa farmers in four communities in the Twifo Atimorkwa District of the Central Region have taken to the streets to protest against traditional leaders who sold 50,000 acres of their cocoa lands to a private developer.

The communities affected by the sale of the cocoa lands include, Agyempoma, Akaase, Nkubem and Oppong Valley situated in the Twifo Atimorkwa and Wasa Amenfi districts respectively.

The farmers, who have cultivated the land for generations, will be left without their primary source of income as the land is converted into a rubber plantation.

The chief of Agyempoma, Nana Kwame Adunya III, has expressed the farmers’ desperation, stating that they have spent their entire lives cultivating cocoa on the land.

The farmers are concerned that the loss of their farms will lead to untimely deaths, as they rely heavily on cocoa farming for their survival.

Nana Kwame Adunya III has appealed to COCOBOD and other well-meaning Ghanaians to intervene and salvage the lives of the many cocoa farmers who are on the verge of losing their source of livelihoods.

The queen mother of Agyempoma, Nana Akua Ayensua II, has also emphasized that the land has been in their possession for over 300 years, and that the sale of the land to a private investor was done without their consent.

Some of the cocoa farmers who stand to lose their livelihoods as a result of the sale of their farms to a private developer shared their emotional and distressing stories with Angel News’ Shadrack Owusu Asante.

Story by Kwame Owusu Asante Shadrack, Rich FM Assin Fosu