About 2,000 farmers in the Upper West Akim District of the Eastern Region of Ghana have lost their cocoa farms to rubber plantation companies, as rubber investors offer more cash for stool lands.

"The land belongs to the chiefs, and these chiefs have released the land to the rubber farmers because they have paid for it. The chiefs have asked the farmers to pull the cocoa trees down." President of the West Akim Farmer Cooperative and Marketing Union, Ohene Boafo, said.

According to Mr. Boafo, about 2,000 farmers are affected by the decision of the chiefs to pull down the cocoa trees. The affected areas include Akim Breman, Kuro dua, and Asikasu Odumase all in the Upper West Akim District. He said, when the farmers reported the issue to the farmers union, they tried their best to resolve the matter but proved futile. The problem is yet to resolve. Mr. Boafo, appealing to the authorities step in and that the remaining farms left to the farmers.

He said, since most of the farmers are aging, there is a need to make cocoa farming very attractive and that in turn attract the youth. Looking at how the stool landowners are treating the farmers will discourage them in the area from taking up cocoa farming. He, therefore, called for legal backing for the protection of cocoa farms in the country, saying: “If there is legal backing for cocoa farming, I don’t think the rubber plantation investors will come to their farms and destroy them.”

The Cocoa Life support

Cocoa Life, a program under Mondelez International, has been providing hybrid cocoa-seedlings to farmers who are under the program. The seedling which is nursed by Tree Global has a maturity period of 18 months as against the Tetteh Quarshie seedlings which are over 8 years to maturity period.

One farmer under the program during a tour on his farm, Ohene Boafo, told the press initially harvesting 2 bags from a hectare of land. “Cocoa Life has given a lot of education through its cocoa extension agents. We told how well to maintain our farms, in terms of weeding, pruning, spraying, and adopting good agricultural practices. Heeding advice and my yield have increased. We sometimes don’t have enough rainfall. Even though the yield decreases but the cocoa life seedlings can survive some months. Cocoa Life buys the seedlings and supplies them to us without cost.

1.5 million m/t target feasible

Despite threats posed by a shift in cocoa to rubber cultivation and the adverse impact of illegal mining in huge hectares cocoa farms, authorities believe, 1.5 million metric tons (m/t) target within four years is achievable.

Ghana Cocoa Board’s (Cocobod) Chairperson, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, said: “It is our objective to achieve a targeted 1.5 million ton of cocoa bean in the next couple of years. This is doable. We can achieve this within the next three to four year." A study conducted by the scientists at the Cocoa Research Institute has shown. It also entails ensuring the quality of planting materials, the adoption of irrigation on farms, and replanting over aged-cocoa farms.

The country is hopeful of exceeding its revised 800,000-ton target for cocoa production this season due to good rains. Cocoa purchases in the country world's second-largest cocoa grower totaled 691,149 ton as of March 23. The beginning of 2016/17 season starting Oct. 1, a 4% rise on last season, Cocobod data shows.

The Cocobod, Mr. Owusu-Agyemang said, is revamping its high tech program by subsidizing fertilizers, both liquid and granular, for farmers to address the soil fertility problems. "We are mindful of the fact that fertilizers supplied to farmers in the past have followed a blanket formula with the rate of application of 150 kg/acre, regardless of soil type and agro-ecological conditions. Although the blanket fertilizer formulas lead to significant yield increase, especially in the second and third years of application, they are not supportive of sustainable cocoa production because they fail to account for the inherent characteristics of the various soil groups and agribusiness of the cocoa landscapes," he said.

To protect the environment and to optimize returns from fertilizer application, Mr. Owusu-Agyemang indicated that Cocobod is taking steps to ensure that fertilizer formulation for cocoa in the country is made site-specific, and to build up the capacity of farmers in integrated soil fertility management for sustainable cocoa production.