IntroductionWhen it comes to intensive agricultural systems, many rural farmers face a trade-off between agricultural production and biodiversity. In order to protect biodiversity, farmers must sacrifice agricultural production. The challenge therefore is to continually increase food production without having negative effects on biodiversity. These negative effects largely include deforestation, which disrupts ecosystem integrity and species viability. In light of these problems, better agricultural technologies and natural resource management practices as well as improved agricultural policies are needed. This raises the question of how to protect wildlife and conserve their habitat while increasing agricultural production and farmer incomes? Thus, this research paper reviews work on cocoa production in the West African sub-region – particularly Ghana – as a mechanism for biodiversity conservation and presents recommendations to address research gaps related to agroforestry. Context According to Richard Asare, “the West African sub-region is home to the world's main cocoa producing countries, including Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria”. Due to the gradual conversion of forests into cocoa fields, these countries are experiencing significant deforestation. Ghana, in particular, has suffered substantial loss of biodiversity due to deforestation and land degradation, resulting in an economic loss of approximately $54 billion. Furthermore, Ghanaian forest lands are classified as reserves and non-reserves, where approximately 50-70% of the total reserve lands have been illegally encroached upon due to many factors such as agriculture, mining and wood extraction. In Ghana, 50% of the total cocoa plantation area is under soft shade, while an average of 10% is...... middle of paper ...... paper, Institute of Tropical Agriculture , Ibadan, Nigeria. Asare, R., (2005): Cocoa Agroforests in West Africa: A Look at Activities On Preferred Trees in the Farming Systems, Danish Center for Forestry, Landscape and Planning (KVL), 77. UNDP and COCOBOD, (2012 ): Sustainability and environmental policies for cocoa production in Ghana. United Nations Development Program Project Paper, 1 – 56. Asare, R., & David, S., (2011): Good agricultural practices for sustainable cocoa production: a guide for farmer training. Manual no. 1: Planting, replanting and diversifying trees in cocoa systems, Sustainable Tree Crops Program, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Accra, Ghana. Ntiamoah, A., & Afrane, G., (2007): Environmental impacts of cocoa production and processing in Ghana: life cycle analysis approach. Cleaner production log, 16, 1735 – 1740.