Chamber of Agribusiness to demonstrate over ‘galamsey’ menace

The Chamber of Agribusiness intends to hit the streets over the exploitation of farmlands by illegal miners.

According to the chamber, over 1.2 million hectares of farmland have already been destroyed due to illegal mining.

According to the chamber, the alarming situation has become a concern among investors who are worried about the future of their agribusiness initiatives.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Anthony Morrison, expressed frustration in an interview, stating that despite repeated complaints, illegal miners continue to ravage the lands in their pursuit of resources such as gold.

“People’s investments have gone down the drain as a result of activities of illegal mining and galamsey actors. It is a call that we are working on this week. We intend to follow up with a press release and, after that, follow it up with a demonstration among the farmer front and agribusiness front. We are losing quite a lot.

“We have lost trust in him [President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] as a result of the fact that he is not protecting the livelihood of over 57% of the rural population that is directly involved in agriculture and we are talking about 17 million people”.

Mr. Morrison added that the chamber will soon initiate various activities, including urging the Food and Agriculture Organization and other international bodies to exert pressure on the president to take prompt action.

He also raised concerns about the possible ban on agricultural exports from Ghana. This could happen if the current situation is not addressed, leading to European countries and other export destinations implementing protective measures against product imports.

He believes action needs to be taken to boost investment in the agricultural sector.

“If there can be an immediate stop to the issues of galamsey because there are a lot of people whose prospective investors are on the ice as a result of galamsey going on in identified zones where they ought to be doing their investment,” Anthony Morrison stated.

A few days ago, the Mankrom Cocoa Cooperative Farmers Association revealed that over 100,000 acres of cocoa farms have been destroyed by the miners.

The President of the Association stressed the urgent need for government intervention to halt the menace and protect the livelihoods of cocoa farmers.

“They are destroying cocoa farms and lands for this illegal mining and we have not heard anything. In case the government is not aware of the destruction; the cocoa board is telling farmers that they cannot do anything as of now looking at the level of harm and the big men that are into gold mining.

“Now, even the government has changed the name and made it community mining. What is community mining? They are doing exactly what the illegal miners are doing.

“More than 100,000 acres of farmlands have been destroyed due to illegal mining and it has affected our production for this year. Because most of the cocoa has been cut down and once they have been cut down, it is making things difficult for us to get the harvest that we are getting.

“So, I believe that going forward the government should declare a state of emergency in the galamsey areas. All galamsey issues should be halted so that after the elections, a commission should be set up to investigate all the illegal mining in the country so that we come up with a blueprint, for the way that we should do mining in Ghana.

“Other than that everybody has to just wake up and search for gold and illegally continue on those businesses, then lives and properties will continue to be affected,” he noted.