Ghana’s agricultural workers say the severe shortages and hike in the price of vegetables are a result of the activities of illegal miners.
These miners, called Galamsey in local Ghanaian, which means "gather them and sell," are known for conducting illegal small-scale mining in mostly gold rich deposits across the country.
The General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) Edward Kareweh, said on Thursday that the vegetable production hubs of the country are mostly the communities where galamsey activities are rife, making it difficult for farmers to find space to cultivate crops, Ghana News Agency reports.
He added that galamsey activities had led to soil erosion, water pollution, land destruction, heavy metal contamination, and soil infertility, cautioning that the situation was going to be worse if appropriate measures were not taken.
Rising retail prices
“Vegetables are delicate crops; you need clean water to grow vegetables, but you don’t necessarily need clean water to grow cocoa or oil palm because the water that runs under it must not necessarily be the one that we can drink,” Kareweh said.
The retail price range in Ghana Cedi for vegetables is between GHS 10.56 and GHS 21.12 per kilogramme in Accra and Kumasi as of June 2024, according to Ghana Statistical Services.
This is against the 12.5 GHS per kilogramme that vegetables were averagely sold for in January of this year.
Kareweh also stressed that other contributing factors include the high costs associated with land preparation and pesticides, which are critical to vegetable production and adversely impact Ghana’s agricultural sector.
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