In a daring transfer to guard their livelihoods, cocoa farmers working below the Asunafo Cooperative Cocoa Farmers Union have begun mobilising in teams to actively drive away unlawful miners, generally often called ‘galamseyers’, who’re devastating farmlands within the space.
Emmanuel Sarpong, the President of the Union, acknowledged that the escalating risk of unlawful mining and lumbering isn’t solely degrading fertile lands but additionally severely jeopardising the way forward for cocoa manufacturing and the financial well-being of 1000’s of farmers.
He indicated that they will now not sit idly by whereas their farms are destroyed, including that their members have began forming neighborhood motion teams to peacefully resist and push out unlawful miners from their lands.
Mr. Sarpong made these remarks on Thursday at Goase within the Ahafo Area, in the course of the Union’s thirteenth Annual Basic Assembly (AGM). The assembly served as a platform to overview previous efficiency, current the earlier 12 months’s monetary assertion, and make strategic selections for the upcoming 12 months.
The Union President cited a current success, noting that “unlawful miners introduced their tools to cocoa farmlands at Tweapease. Our farmers there mobilised themselves, and with the backing of the Union, drove them away.”
Mr. Sarpong additionally appealed to authorities businesses, safety providers, and environmental teams to accentuate efforts in clamping down on unlawful logging actions which are quickly eroding forest reserves and farmlands throughout the nation.
Based on him, these damaging practices not solely degrade the land but additionally endanger the livelihoods of 1000’s of farmers who rely on cocoa farming for survival.
He confused the pressing want for collective motion to safeguard the setting and make sure the sustainability of cocoa manufacturing, a significant element of Ghana’s economic system.
Mr. Sarpong highlighted that the Union has been on the forefront of empowering its members to withstand unlawful mining actions throughout the Asunafo South Municipality.
The Union isn’t solely main this grassroots defence but additionally providing essential assist to its members. He detailed varied initiatives, together with instructional assist, financial empowerment programmes, entry to mushy loans, and a welfare scheme, all aimed toward strengthening the resilience of cocoa farmers.
The union president emphasised that by empowering farmers economically and socially, they’re higher positioned to reject the momentary attract of fast cash provided by unlawful mining operators and as an alternative deal with sustaining their cocoa farms for long-term profit.
The cocoa farmers of Asunafo have despatched a transparent and robust message: they’re ready to defend their lands, their livelihoods, and the way forward for Ghana’s cocoa trade.
The Union continues to name on authorities authorities, environmental businesses, and neighborhood leaders to hitch forces in preserving farmlands and defending the cocoa trade, a necessary pillar of Ghana’s economic system.
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