Ghana's parliament passed a bill last Thursday that could send cocoa farmers to prison for up to 20 years if they convert their farms to other uses without government authorization, according to a copy of the bill seen by the Associated Press.
The contents of the law were not made public until late Sunday. President John Mahama has not yet signed it into law.
The legislation gives all cocoa farms protected status and makes it a criminal offense to repurpose them without approval. The toughest penalties are aimed at illegal gold mining on cocoa land, carrying a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years, plus a heavy fine for each affected cocoa tree.
Farmers have criticized the measure. Moses Djan Asiedu, administrator of the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association Limited and a cocoa farmer himself, said the law as written is unfair.
"If the law stands as it is now, it's not fair," he said.
Asiedu noted that many farmers invest their own money to acquire land, clear it, and maintain cocoa farms for years before earning any income, often with little government support. "If cocoa is a national asset, then the farmer should also be supported to cover some of the cost of production," he said.
Cocoa is a critical export for West Africa. In neighboring Ivory Coast, cocoa bean exports make up 40% of total export revenue. In Ghana, they account for nearly 15%. Hundreds of thousands of farmers across the region depend on cocoa farming for their livelihoods.
The government sets a fixed price for cocoa beans at the start of each planting season, and most beans are sold through government-licensed parties, a system designed to shield farmers from international price swings. However, after cocoa futures surged in 2024 to more than $12,000 per metric ton, the highest in decades, prices crashed to around $4,000 as supply outpaced demand.
