Illegal Mining Devastates Ghana’s Food-Producing Regions, Warns PFAG
Speaking on an X Space hosted by NorvanReports, Economic Governance Platform (EGP) and Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) on the theme, ‘Farming at the Crossroads: How Galamsey Threatens Ghana’s Farmlands and Food Security’, Acting Executive Director of PFAG, Bismark Owusu Nortey, detailed how galamsey contamination in major farming regions like Ashanti, Eastern, Central, Western, and Western North is crippling food production. These regions traditionally produce staples including rice, cassava, yams, and plantain, but deteriorating water and soil quality have forced farmers to severely reduce yields.
Joseph Mawuli Tibu 
Illegal small-scale mining, locally called galamsey, has ravaged more than 1.2 million hectares of farmland across Ghana, impacting over 500,000 farmers and their families, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has revealed.
![A group of galamseyers, illegal or small-scale gold panners, work in Kibi, Ghana [File: Cristina Aldehuela/AFP]](https://www.thehubweb.com/uploads/images/202509/image_870x_68da900b7347a.webp)
Speaking on an X Space hosted by NorvanReports, Economic Governance Platform (EGP) and Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) on the theme, ‘Farming at the Crossroads: How Galamsey Threatens Ghana’s Farmlands and Food Security’, Acting Executive Director of PFAG, Bismark Owusu Nortey, detailed how galamsey contamination in major farming regions like Ashanti, Eastern, Central, Western, and Western North is crippling food production. These regions traditionally produce staples including rice, cassava, yams, and plantain, but deteriorating water and soil quality have forced farmers to severely reduce yields.
“We are seeing once bountiful rice areas like Shama and Kou drop from harvesting two or three times a year to just once due to polluted irrigation systems,” Mr. Nortey said. “The soils are so contaminated that farmers are uncertain about what crops to plant or when.”
He explained that the mining menace has also driven up production costs and worsened labour shortages, as most young people favour illegal mining’s daily pay of between GHS 2,000 and GHS 3,000 compared to GHS 15–20 per hour for farm work. This dual blow of reduced productivity and a scarce workforce has left farmers grappling with what he described as a “production crisis” compounded by challenges in marketing their crops.
“If decisive actions are not taken, these key food-producing regions may no longer sustain Ghana’s food needs, which could have devastating national repercussions,” Mr. Nortey warned.
He also raised concerns over youth interest in farming, noting economic struggles, limited mechanisation, poor access to land and credit, and marketing difficulties are pushing them away from agriculture toward galamsey, which offers more immediate financial rewards despite its destructive consequences.
To reverse the trend, PFAG calls for urgent government intervention to make farming more attractive through proper incentives and to clamp down rigorously on illegal mining activities.
As Ghana faces increasing threats to its agricultural backbone, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders have intensified calls for the President to declare a “State of Emergency” to protect the environment and water bodies, which are vital for sustaining national food security and rural livelihoods.
