High food prices can be attributed to galamsey destroying farmlands — GAWU

Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of the General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU), says the rising cost of food prices in Ghana can be partly attributed to illegal small-scale mining, also known as galamsey.

He stated that galamsey activities have been destroying large swaths of farmland in the country, reducing the available land for food production.

“All agricultural lands including cocoa, oil palm rubber are all encroached. If oil palms can be encroached how much maize farms," he noted.

Mr. Kareweh explained that existing farms have been encroached on by galamsey operations.

This has significantly decreased the overall landscape available for agriculture.

“The lands available for food production are declining," he emphasized.

The GAWU general secretary pointed to other challenges facing Ghana's agriculture sector.

He said climate change has disrupted rainfall patterns, making it difficult for farmers.

There has also been a lack of investment in irrigation infrastructure, said the GAWU General Secretary.

"We can’t boast of any single dam built, One Village, One Dam policy is good but the projects do not exist even though money has been spent," Kareweh remarked.

He added that existing dams have only been rehabilitated and not substantially expanded.

This has limited the potential for irrigation agriculture, which could help boost yields and insulate farmers from drought risks.

With reduced farmland and surface water resources due to galamsey and changing weather, Ghana's food production has suffered a major blow, he argued.