Ghana’s parliament has passed legislation intended to protect cocoa farms, including provisions that could impose major criminal penalties for certain unapproved changes. According to reports, the bill allows for imprisonment of up to 20 years for cocoa farmers who convert their farms without government approval. The measures are presented as an effort to control land use and regulate changes involving cocoa production, using formal authorization from the state as a requirement. While the reporting emphasizes the length of the potential prison term, it also indicates that the core trigger is the act of converting cocoa farms without permission rather than other forms of agricultural activity. The bill’s passage reflects parliamentary support for stricter enforcement related to cocoa farm protection, though details on how approvals are granted and what specific conversions are covered are not provided in the available excerpts. The reporting from multiple outlets describes the same parliamentary action and the same maximum penalty figure.