With cocoa prices soaring to a record $12,000 per tonne and gold reaching a global high of $3,500 an ounce this year, Ghana – blessed with fertile land and abundant mineral wealth – should be on the cusp of a windfall.

Instead, these key economic pillars have become symbols of missed opportunity and systemic dysfunction. Unlocking their full potential will require bold institutional reforms, fairer compensation for farmers and greater transparency – priorities President John Mahama’s administration is hoping to champion.

“We are at a crossroads,” says Sammy Gyamfi, CEO of the newly established Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod). “If we get this right, these commodities can change the story of our economy.”

Yet in a global market defined by cyclical volatility, it remains uncertain whether Ghana can move quickly enough to tackle the issues at hand and truly capitalise on its precious resources.

Smuggling undermines Ghana’s mining sector

Ghana exported over 64 tonnes of gold from artisanal and small-scale mining in 2024, but experts believe at least twice that amount was smuggled out of the country. Some of this comes from the informal mining sector; some from those hoping to avoid taxes on their finds.

The GoldBod, under Gyamfi, has been tasked with issuing centralised prices and curbing smuggling in the gold sector. “We are not reinventing the wheel, we’re refining it. The idea is to ensure that small-scale miners earn decent, fixed prices to discourage smuggling to neighbouring countries. We have learnt from Cocobod’s struggles.”

We’re paid peanuts for our cocoa, and then our farms are taken over by galamseyers. What are we supposed to do?

But Cocobod, which was established in 1947 to regulate cocoa prices and protect farmers from exploitation, may not be the best example to follow. The scramble for higher prices is wreaking havoc across both industries.

Cocoa production, which once peaked at one million metric tonnes, has collapsed to about 500,000 tonnes in the West African country. Illegal gold mining – known locally as galamsey – has decimated vast cocoa farmlands and polluted vital water bodies across the country.

Natural resources ministry records estimate that 30,000 hectares of cocoa farms have already been destroyed nationwide. Worse still, reports in the past month suggest another 50,000 hectares are at risk due to mining and timber activities.

Farmgate prices in Ghana remain below $2,000 per tonne – less than 20% of what cocoa fetches on international markets. It’s no wonder smuggling has become rampant, with many farmers illegally selling their beans across the borders of neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire and Togo.

Gyamfi’s ability to lead came under scrutiny, however, after a video released online showed him handing dollar bills to controversial Ghanian preacher Nana Agraada – just a week after President Mahama issued a code of conduct “as a bold declaration of the standards we have to uphold as servants of the public”.

Mahama took no action against Gyamfi, and he continues to manage the GoldBod.

Cocoa farmers abandoning their farms

For the cocoa that is grown, between 20% and 30% is smuggled into neighbouring countries where farmers hope for better prices than those they receive at the farmgate.

“I know farmers who’ve turned to illegal mining just to survive,” Charles Gyamfi, a cocoa farmer from Bibiani in the Western North Region, tells The Africa Report. “We’re paid peanuts for our cocoa, and then our farms are taken over by galamseyers. What are we supposed to do?”

“It’s sickening,” says Alhaji Alhassan Bukari, president of the Ghana Cocoa Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE). “We are watching our livelihoods and the country’s heritage being destroyed before our eyes.”

I’ve spoken to chiefs who admit they’ve sold off cocoa farms to miners for quick cash

Cocobod’s past missteps have further shaken faith in the system. A $263m fund for rehabilitating 156,000 hectares of diseased cocoa farms was grossly mismanaged, with only 40,000 hectares restored during the past Akufo-Addo administration.

“There was a complete disconnect between the funds allocated and the results delivered,” Ghana Cocoa Board’s acting CEO Ransford Abbey says. “We have referred the matter to the relevant authorities for full investigation.”

The Western Region, once Ghana’s cocoa heartland, is now ground zero for the sector’s collapse. Swollen shoot disease has wiped out 40% of the country’s cocoa farms. Farmers like Gyamfi say they received no compensation when their farms were cut down.

“I felt abandoned,” he says. “The diseases came, the trees died, and nothing happened. No support, no seedlings, no fertiliser.”

Missed opportunities in cocoa processing

Boosting domestic consumption, Abbey says, could reduce Ghana’s dependency on volatile global markets and improve farmer incomes. “We’re producing, but we’re not profiting,” he says. “There’s more money in processing than just producing.”

This is not just about commodities, it’s about the soul of the Ghanaian economy

Ghana processes around 500,000 tonnes of cocoa domestically, but challenges around the cost of production persist. Meanwhile, per capita chocolate consumption in Ghana remains low – around 0.9 kg a year, compared to 5 kg in Europe.

“We’ve never benefitted fully from cocoa because we haven’t added enough value. This government intends to change that,” he says.

But cocoa’s woes aren’t limited to pricing. Imoro Issifu Alhassan, spokesperson for COCOSHE, says the destruction of farmlands by illegal mining – often facilitated by local chiefs – is one of the most urgent threats.

“I’ve spoken to chiefs who admit they’ve sold off cocoa farms to miners for quick cash,” he says. “We need punitive laws and political will to stop this madness.”

Alhassan adds that beyond galamsey, cocoa farmers are battling pests, diseases, and climate change – all while earning less than $100 a month on average.

“Our members are giving up. They feel betrayed,” he says. “Why should they continue when cocoa prices are booming, but they see no profits?”

Can Mahama deliver a turnaround?

As the Mahama government embarks on this ambitious overhaul of both the cocoa and gold sectors, success will depend not just on policies but on trust and execution.

Gyamfi of GoldBod believes it can work – if the government steps back from playing every role. “There must be a firewall between the regulator and the commercial player,” he says. “Otherwise, we’ll keep chasing our tails.”

Whether this vision of transformation becomes reality or another missed opportunity remains to be seen. But with cocoa and gold prices both climbing, Ghana has little time – and no excuse – to get it wrong.

“This is not just about commodities,” says Abbey. “It’s about the soul of the Ghanaian economy.”

If the country cannot protect the land it grows on or the minerals it mines, then gold and cocoa will remain tragic symbols of what could have been.