Manu Yaw Fofie was born into the cocoa farming business, but the land bequeathed to him has become more of a burden than a blessing. A sharp fall in cocoa prices over the past year has left beans rotting in some West African warehouses, while global chocolate makers scramble for supplies and consumers seek their fix.
With less money coming in, the 52-year-old Fofie in Ghana has taken the desperate step of giving part of his land to illegal sand miners, a lucrative practice driven by high construction demand since sand is used in concrete.
The cost is severe, however: the sand mining makes the land infertile.
Aware of the danger, Fofie said he had been left with little choice. He said annual cocoa bean yields has been declining over the years, from the past heyday of 300 bags to 50 bags in 2025, affected by factors including climate change.
Fofie is one of many cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast — countries responsible for nearly 70% of the global cocoa bean supply — who are putting their land for other uses after the price of the once high-flying commodity crashed.
