Impact of Illegal Mining Activities on Cocoa Pollinator Abundance in Ghana

Abstract

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is mainly pollinated by Ceratopogonid midges (Forcipomyia spp.). Wild pollinators are important to both cocoa production and natural ecosystems, and are threatened by land-use change, intensive agricultural management, fragmentation from mining activities, and climate change. Despite the massive expansion of cocoa production in Ghana, it may now be of secondary economic importance to gold due to its increased environmental impact and the economic importance exercised by cocoa communities. However, very little attention has been paid to pollination management as a factor of production, as pollination is often not considered an important process for crop yield. The Ghana Cocoa Board takes a closer look at the impact of illegal mining on cocoa productivity and trusts farmers to destroy their farmland for illegal gold mining. In this chapter we briefly describe the cocoa sector, cocoa flower and pollinator biology and phenology as presented. What follows is an overview of the current environmental threats and social issues posed by unregulated mining affecting pollinator abundance and diversity in the context of Ghana. Finally, we examine ways to improve pollination and deforestation in Ghana’s small cocoa sector.