The cocoa economy in Ghana in the early 21st century

Abstract

Cocoa has played a crucial role for the economy of Ghana at the beginning of the 21st century, representing one of the main items on the country's export balance, which is also the second-largest exporter of the seeds of this fruit in the world, only after the Ivory Coast. In the light of the concept of socio-spatial formation, developed by Milton Santos in the 1970s, this study aims to analyze how the arrangements between the productive forces and the production relations in Ghanaian cocoa activity are constituted. To this end, the methodology employed is based on the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data obtained from primary and secondary sources. As a result of this research, it was observed that multiple contemporary aspects of the cocoa activity in Ghana derive from the particularity in which the mode of production developed in that country over time, specifically concerning the technical and legal conditions of the production process. This result also reiterates the methodological relevance of the concept of socio-spatial formation for contemporary geographic studies.