GHANA: Cocoa farmers reject compensation from Ghana Rubber Estates Ltd.

There is growing tension at Asikasu-Odumase in the Upper West Akyem District of the Eastern Region over the forceful take-over of cocoa farmlands for rubber plantation.

Cocoa farmers in the area have rejected compensation from the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited in exchange for their land.

They say they cannot exchange their livelihood for GHS 7,000 for an acre of cocoa farm.

The company has however defied their stance and gone ahead to destroy over 2,500 acres to plant rubber.

Ghana will soon lose its position as the world’s second largest cocoa producer; many cocoa farms are being replaced with rubber plantations.

Source: Daily “The Ghana Web”, Accra; 14 Feb 2018
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)