A dramatic increase of illegal mining taking over cocoa production farms in Ghana has led to a shortage of cocoa beans, going as far as creating the near shutdown of processing plants throughout the nation. Although the cocoa bean shortage is also a result of climate change and the saturation of available farming land, the increased pressure on cocoa farmers to sell or lease their lands to illegal miners has further threatened the supply of cocoa. This process is locally known as galamsey. Investors will claim underlying gold deposits, influencing farmers to sell or lease their lands in exchange for financial compensation. Miners will then promptly exploit the area, making it impossible to reverse the damage caused. The galamsey operations are largely unregulated and illegal. They involve sophisticated equipment and harmful chemicals which pose severe environmental and health related risks. Once these mining activities have been completed, these methods make the quality of the land unsuitable for cocoa cultivation. Ghana, historically known for both cocoa and gold, has recently struggled with balancing both economic interests, and the need to preserve environmental and safety concerns in the face of small-scale mining.