Ghanaian cocoa farmers are opposing a new law that would restrict how they can use their farmland, arguing that some provisions could limit their ability to replace unproductive cocoa trees or convert farms that are no longer viable.
Ghana’s parliament approved the new Ghana Cocoa Board Bill 2026 in late July. The legislation would designate cocoa farms as protected land and prohibit farmers from converting them to other uses without approval from the Ghana Cocoa Board, known as COCOBOD.
The government said the law is intended to protect Ghana’s shrinking cocoa-growing areas from being converted for mining, food crops and other activities. This comes after cocoa production declined significantly in recent years, even as illegal mining has increasingly encroached on agricultural land, damaging farmland and water resources.
However, farmer groups say the restrictions need to be reviewed before the legislation takes effect. The Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association supports protecting cocoa farms but wants clearer provisions covering farms that have become diseased, unproductive or economically unviable.
Farmers are particularly concerned about whether they would need government approval before replacing cocoa trees with other crops on land where cocoa production is no longer sustainable. They have called for greater consultation to ensure the law does not restrict their ability to make decisions about their livelihoods.
Under the legislation, farmers who convert protected cocoa land without approval could face substantial fines and prison sentences of up to 20 years. The severity of the penalties has intensified concerns among farmers and civil society groups about the potential consequences of the law.
COCOBOD has defended the legislation, arguing that protecting cocoa farmland is necessary to reverse the decline in production and prevent agricultural land from being lost to other activities. The agency has also suggested that opposition to the bill is partly politically motivated.
President John Dramani Mahama has not yet signed the legislation into law and has not indicated when he will decide whether to approve it.
The dispute comes at a difficult time for Ghana’s cocoa industry. The country is one of the world’s largest cocoa producers, but farmers have faced declining yields, ageing trees, disease and increasing competition for agricultural land.
Illegal mining has added to the pressure, with mining activities damaging farmland and threatening water sources in several cocoa-growing regions. Protecting productive cocoa land has therefore become an important part of efforts to restore Ghana’s output.
For farmers, however, preserving cocoa production must be balanced against their right to make economic decisions about land they depend on for income.
The government now faces pressure to address those concerns before the bill becomes law. A compromise could allow Ghana to protect its cocoa-growing areas while giving farmers greater flexibility to rehabilitate or repurpose farms that can no longer support viable cocoa production.
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Emmanuel Abara Benson is a business journalist and editor covering artificial intelligence, global markets, and emerging technology.
He has previously worked with Business Insider Africa and Nairametrics, reporting on finance, startups, and innovation.
His work focuses on AI, digital economy, and global tech trends.
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