Thousands of cocoa farmers protest against the takeover of a farm by an industrial enclave

General News of Sunday, February 3, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-02-03

Farmers in seven communities in Ejisu Municipality, in the Ashanti region, are protesting what they view as an illegal acquisition of their agricultural land for industrial purposes.

According to them, more than 5,000 hectares of cocoa farms belonging to nearly 3,000 people must be destroyed and the land developed to become an enclave of free zones.

Affected communities include Onwe, Abenaase, Edwenase, Asarpong, Odaho, Amoadu and Sensuaso.

Farmers' spokesman, Kwabena Boateng, said that people who claim to work for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry are leading the bargaining movement with farmers.

Boateng said that the founders concerned and their dependents would lose their livelihood and that cocoa production would suffer if the project was completed.

He wants President Akufo Addo and Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu to be the second, to intervene quickly to save their livelihood.

"The government spends a lot on farmers every year because cocoa is the backbone of the country. Therefore, we want President Akufo Addo to intervene, we want to be law-abiding citizens, but if these companies come back, we will chase them, "warns Boateng.

He says he harvests about 50 bags each season, while others make more than 150 bags.

The head of the family in Abenaase Osei Tutu stated that the affected communities were a source of food for Ejisu and Kumasi and therefore could not allow them to reclaim their farmland.

He is a family man with more than 20 people who all depend on his cocoa plantations.

What baffles them is that they have not been informed of development projects and why they want to cut their cocoa trees.

"If they decide to destroy our cocoa plantations, we must train our children to gum because we have no means of livelihood."

Kwasi Osei, an eighty-year-old farmer, says he relies on his cocoa farm to support his family, including raising his children.

"An elderly person like me, how can I take care of my family without my cocoa farm, what will happen if I die and leave nothing to them?

Ante Akosua, aged sixty-five, has spent her entire life in agriculture to give hope to her family.

She is currently caring for eight orphans in addition to her own children who are all in school.

"Can I sit down and watch my cocoa farm destroyed? I will rather die to avoid hunger and humiliation. Please, President Akufo Addo, we believe in you, otherwise we will all starve, "she said.