In Ghana, the issue of illegal artisanal mining of minerals, especially gold (an activity in Ghana known as galamsey), is a headache for the government. Every year, more and more Ghanaians living below the poverty line enter this business and according to data reported for several years by local media, about one million Ghanaians practice this practice which would make about 4.5 million people live but would cause losses of several billion to the state.
According to the Cocoa board of Ghana (Cocobod), galamsey is becoming a serious threat to the yields in the cocoa sector because it leads to the destruction of large areas of forest and cocoa plantations, the pollution of rivers and water sources and has had a negative impact on cocoa production.
According to Cocobod, the phenomenon led to the destruction of more than 19,000 hectares of cocoa plantations in 2021, the equivalent of 2% of the national orchard. For the 2021/2022 campaign, galamsey is cited among the main causes of the poor performance of the sector. Other data from Cocobod, reported by various Ghanaian media, shows that the phenomenon would have caused the loss of 4.8 billion cedis of investments (almost 400 million dollars) in 35 hectares of cocoa plantations in Boinso, in the western region.
To remedy the problem, the State is implementing a strategy based both on repression and on the proposal of alternative livelihoods for people who engage in this practice, the results of which are slow to be felt. Ghana is the second world producer of cocoa after the Ivory Coast: the cocoa sector contributes 9% to its gross domestic product as well as creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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