Ghanas cocoa farmers turn to smuggling as profits dwindle | Mark Anderson and Billie Adwoa McTernan

From Global development | The Guardian Wed Aug 13 2014, 11:25:09

Backbone of Ghanas economy weakened by soaring costs, tempting farmers to sell through illegal Ivory Coast networks

At dusk in Yakese, a village in Ghanas resource-rich western region, farmers troop along a potholed road after a busy day harvesting cocoa, the fruits of their labour balanced in bowls on their heads.

I have four children, but because the value of cocoa is falling in Ghana, I spend all my money on my childrens education, says Okyeame Wange, 45, who has been farming in the area for the past 30 years, as a group of boys run past, chasing each other along narrow alleyways between mud-brick huts.

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