HOTLINE- To plant or not to plant? How should government handle the delicate matter of cocoa farming in forest reserves?

DRAFT
CUE( forester briefly saying there is nothing we can do abt it)
Until Tetteh Quarshie returned from Fernadopo in 1878 with some few pods of cocoa for cultivation, there was little attention on cocoa cultivation in the country. Tetteh Quarshie’s return and his bold attempt at cocoa cultivation and his subsequent success at exporting cocoa to Europe in 1885 was an event that would forever change the economic destiny of Ghana. Ghana has since 1925 when it produced 44% of the world’s total exports of cocoa, been regarded as one of the world’s leading exporter of cocoa until the 1980s. That notwithstanding, cocoa exports has continued to be a major player in Ghana’s export commodities. Today, earnings from cocoa exports alone accounts for about 34.1 per cent of the total export earnings. Notwithstanding the enormous contribution of cocoa famers to the development of this nation, they have suffered as much exploitation as the overall contribution of the crop itself to the nation’s development.
Government in its bid to protect forest reserves has resourced the Forestry Service Division to cut down all cocoa farms that have been allowed to flourish in some forest reserves in the Western region. This could be disastrous, at least for residents of Aboabodo in the Sewfi Anhwiaso Bekwai district where the only source of income for the more than 3000 residents is cocoa farming. The village contributes a significant portion of the district’s cocoa yields annually.
CUE: (Children voices cock crows walking in the dry leaves, man cutting tree..
Hundreds of hectares of cocoa farms are said to have extended into the Tano Suraw Forest Reserve, dwindling it’s seize by 80 percent. The farmers, most of whom are settlers from other parts of the country, have been farming here for many years.
CUE: (oldman, some women and yougnmen) –brief
To verify their claims, I make a journey up the hills where the farms are located.
CUE: (STAND –UP on the farm)
Since the forest guards backed by the military started the exercise over two months ago, the farmers have been having sleepless nights. Everyone wakes up fearing the worst.
CUE: (crying woman)
She was not the only female farmer to shed tears at the turn of events.
CUE: (another crying woman)
The village has one primary school. There is no electricity and the residents rely on boreholes for water. Kwesi Manu speaks about how the destruction of the cocoa farms has affected school enrollment levels despite government’ fee free education policy.
CUE:
The impact has been devastating, as Eno Serwa who traveled hundreds of kilometers to settle in the village more than twenty years ago explains. She wants the government to step in.
CUE:
But District Chief Executive, Moses Armah says the exercise will go on.
CUE:
The question is, does it make sense to cut the cocoa trees, create an economic fatigue among the affected farmers all in the name of forest preservation? GNA Agana is district forestry Manager
CUE:
The blame game started when I wanted to find out why the farmers were allowed to encroach into the forest reserve for all these years?
CUE: (Agana blaming lack of political will)
CUE: (Armah talking about the FSD being inactive)
Blame game or not, people like little Efia and their parents would be feeling the brunt of the cocoa farm destruction taking place in the Aboabodo settlement. The story will not be so different in many other villages where farmers have encroached into forest reserves. This official work with a Cocoa buying company, he wants to remain anonymous but tells me the exercise will have a negative impact on the expected yields from the area.
CUE: (kuapa ….)
As the ding dong continues, cutting of the coacoa trees will not cease. Envrinomental NGO, Green Earth says Ghana has consistently falied to protect its forest resources. Executiv Director, William Ahadzie says the situation is getting out of hand.
CUE: