From Prison to Plantation: Ghana’s Galamseyers and the National Farm Initiative

“Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi

As Ghana intensifies efforts to clamp down on illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, the minister of interior, with oversight responsibility for the national security ministry, is reported to have suggested that all foreign nationals arrested for illegal mining will be deported to their home countries and not jailed. Whereas such an approach could be laudable, a fresh idea can emerge at the intersection of justice, agriculture, and national development, deploying convicted illegal miners, particularly foreigners, to serve on national farms before eventual deportation.

“I came because the money from gold was quick. If I had known I’d end up farming cassava under guard, I wouldn’t have taken the risk.”

While the conversation surrounding illegal mining often centres on environmental degradation, land disputes, and national security, this novel proposal suggests that the crisis could be leveraged to improve the food basket of the country, overcrowded prisons, and the reintegration of local offenders. Redirecting foreign nationals convicted of illegal mining to farm cultivation programmes before deportation will serve as a deterrent to potential foreign illegal miners. This strategy will be a blend of punitive justice and economic pragmatism. There is no shadow of doubt about the fact that human rights groups who are silent on the obliteration of nature will suddenly find their voices and complain about the model. However, we should seal any lacunae in the appropriate legislation before its implementation.

With hundreds of foreign nationals, particularly from China, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo, arrested yearly for illegal mining activities, Ghana is incurring high costs in court proceedings, detention, and deportation. Instead of keeping these offenders in already congested prisons, authorities could redirect them to state-owned or community-backed farms.

While the government is yet putting measures in place to have district state farms managed by the MMDA, the Komenda Sugar Factory Plantation in the Central Region could be the immediate option. Foreign mining offenders, under strict supervision and legal framework, could serve time contributing to national food security and rural development.

Ghana’s prison population stands at over 14,000, with many facilities operating at nearly 150% capacity. We could assign non-violent illegal mining offenders to work on farms instead of adding them to the already overcrowded prison system. Rehabilitation must not always happen behind bars. Work-based correction can be more meaningful for first-time and non-violent offenders.

With the right policy framework, this pool of labour could be harnessed to revitalise sectors like rice, maize, cassava, cocoa, and new agricultural models to be rolled out by the government. Imagine about 300 able-bodied miners working to revive the Aveyime Rice Project or maintain irrigation channels in the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR), in Navrongo (Tono) in the Upper East region. Food production would increase, and idle lands would become productive again.

Instead of immediate deportation, foreign offenders would serve a fixed term on national farms. They would work under supervision and reside in structured agricultural labour camps during this period, with smart AI monitors or electronic tracking devices. This staggered approach reduces the immediate financial burden of repatriation and makes their presence temporarily beneficial.

For Ghanaian illegal miners, working on farms during their sentence could serve as agricultural training and reformation. Following their release, government agricultural schemes or cooperatives may provide incentives to transition from illegal mining to legal farming. It’s not just punishment but transformation; we can convert ex-galamseyers into farmers if we combine punishment with purpose.

The policy could also serve as a deterrent. If foreign nationals know they will be forced to work on farms under surveillance before deportation, the financial allure of illegal mining in Ghana may diminish.

Indeed, there may be a few challenges to surmount before the successful implementation of the model. Any work must be voluntary within a legal framework that aligns with international laws on human rights and forced labour. We should tie all the legal knots to prevent criticism. Agricultural labour camps must have strict, smart contemporary monitoring and supervision to prevent escape, collusion, or unrest. Housing, feeding, and managing these labourers requires investment and coordination among agencies like the Ghana Prisons Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Immigration Service, and Ministry of Justice.

This idea echoes successful rehabilitation models from countries like Norway, where prisoners work on farms or in forests as part of their correctional journey. Ghana could develop a homegrown model that tackles crime, unemployment, food insecurity, and prison congestion all at once.

In Mpumalanga, South Africa, illegal mining by foreign nationals has reached crisis levels, with syndicates exploiting gold-rich regions using prohibited explosives and equipment. In February 2025, ActionSA, a political party, demanded urgent deportations of arrested individuals while advocating for their use in state-sanctioned agricultural projects. The proposal argues that convicted miners could offset labour gaps in South Africa’s farming sector, which faces chronic shortages due to urbanisation and emigration.

To sum up, Ghana stands at a crossroads. Instead of viewing foreign illegal miners solely as criminals, the country could turn them temporarily into contributors. By putting pickaxes down and picking up hoes and machetes, these offenders might serve the very nation they came to exploit. This is not just about farming, but justice, innovation, and national growth. Beyond bars and borders lies a field of opportunity.

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein