From the outset, the minister faced fierce criticism from industry stakeholders, who dismissed her as ill-suited for the job. Her mettle was tested when just a few months into her tenure in 2021, the European Commission (EC) issued a ‘yellow card’ warning to Ghana.

The warning was an indictment of Ghana’s fishing practices, citing rampant illegal targeting of juvenile pelagic species and glaring deficiencies in the monitoring and control of the fishing fleet. The EC expressed concerns that fish caught through IUU fishing might find their way onto the European market.

The minister in her address conceded that Ghana’s small pelagic fish stock and marine resources were in a state of severe “overexploitation” as a result of IUU fishing practices.

Artisanal fishers however continue to complain that the “minister is only paying lip service” to the problem and has not demonstrated enough commitment to addressing the challenges.

The small pelagic fish comprising anchovies, mackerel, and sardines is popularly referred to as the ‘people’s fish’ in Ghana because of its importance to the local economy; directly employing over a million artisanal fishers and women in the value chain combined.

This fish stock which is the reserve of artisanal fishers has significantly reduced over the years. In 2020, the Sustainable Fisheries Management research revealed that despite increasing fishing efforts by the artisanal fishing fleet in Ghana’s waters, small pelagic fish catch has fallen by over 85 percent, from the peak in reported landings of 138,955 metric tonnes recorded in 1996.

Scientists have warned that Ghana’s small pelagic stock teeters on the edge of collapse with a significant impact on 2.7 million people who rely on the marine fisheries for survival.

Despite these alarming conditions of the small pelagic stock in Ghana, an investigation by iWatch Africa’s Gideon Sarpong found that over €40 million worth of the fish stock were exported to the European Union (EU) market in 2020 and 2021, with no export restrictions in place to protect the overfished species.

Additionally, the investigation revealed that the European Commission, which had issued a warning to Ghana, failed to implement restrictions on industrial vessels and companies engaged in IUU fishing activities, even though the EU fishery law permitted such action. These findings raise significant questions about the level of commitment by both Ghana and the EU toward protecting the sustainability of the small pelagic fish in Ghana.

Ghana’s minister of fisheries Hawa Koomson failed to respond to the findings of this investigation and our requests for comment.

Exporting fish from Ghana to the EU – Broken system?

In Ghana, the Fisheries Ministry is responsible for issuing catch certification licenses for fish export to the EU market, said Misornu Yaw Logo, a fisheries expert, with the fisheries ministry in Ghana.

The certification process is part of the Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS), which is an important system that monitors and verifies the origin of harvested fish and guarantees that they are caught in a sustainable manner in line with local and international regulations, he explained.

However, data provided by Ghana’s ministry indicated that the country exported almost $200 million worth of fish in 2020 and 2021, with 90% going to the EU market, while EU fisheries data recorded over €250 million ($269 million) in fish imports from Ghana during the same period, raising concerns about data inconsistencies.

Ghana’s fisheries ministry could not provide the data requested on small pelagic fish exported to the EU as part of this investigation, but the EU recorded over €40 million in import of small pelagic fish from Ghana.

Mr. Logo revealed that Ghana’s certification system has significant flaws, arguing that the catch documentation system “does not comprehensively prevent the export of endangered species.” According to his research conducted in 2022, there exists a discrepancy in the CDS procedure between Tuna vessels and trawler vessels in Ghana.

Mr. Logo’s research uncovered that tuna vessels undergo stringent checks as part of the CDS procedure in Ghana. Upon landing, the tuna vessel’s certificates are sent to two units at the ministry: the “Monitoring and Control Surveillance Unit and Fisheries Scientific Survey Division for further examination, ensuring data accuracy and compliance with both national and international regulations,” he noted.

In contrast, trawler operators bypass these additional checks and proceed “directly to the Catch Certification Unit of the ministry (a unit under Ghana’s fisheries ministry)” to prepare their consignment for export.

Dr. Edwin Kelly Ofori-Ani, the board secretary of the Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association (GITA), echoed Mr. Logo’s concerns emphasizing the “absence of a mechanism within the fisheries commission to determine real-time value of fish exported out of the country.”

He regarded the figures provided by the ministry as highly “deceptive” and called for greater transparency.

“The volumes are not accurate, and the values are under-declared,” he said.

As part of industrial trawlers’ self-regulatory efforts, Dr. Ofori-Ani proposed that the association itself “validates the catch return” before it is submitted to the fisheries commission for export.

EU failure to sanction companies engaged in IUU.

Over the years, several industrial trawlers not authorized to target small pelagic fish in Ghana have been arrested for deliberately targeting this fish stock in significant quantities causing severe overfishing and depletion of fish stock reserved for artisanal fishers.

One such vessel, the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 956, beneficiary owned by Chinese company Rongcheng Ocean Fishery, was re-arrested in Ghanaian waters in 2020 for illegally targeting small pelagic fish using under-size nets.

The actions of these trawlers have sparked concern and outrage among experts and researchers.

Dr. Isaac Okyere, a respected researcher at the University of Cape Coast, describes the dire situation, stating, “The small pelagic fish they catch is no longer treated as by-catch. Instead, it has become the primary target, while demersal fish has been relegated to by-catch status.”

This inversion of the fishing hierarchy has had devastating consequences for the local ecosystem and the livelihoods of artisanal fishers.

Documents obtained as part of this investigation revealed that two fishing vessels: the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 928 and Lu Rong Yuan Yu 907 beneficially owned by Rongcheng Ocean Fishery had been involved in fishing violations in the first quarter of 2023 and had been fined 90,000 cedis ($8100) by the regulators in Ghana.

Investigators also discovered that as of 2022, Rongcheng Ocean Fishery had authorization from the EU to export fish products to their markets.

In 2020, a report by Environmental Justice Foundation, an NGO that monitors economic and environmental abuses revealed multiple cases in which trawl vessels authorised to export to the EU were involved in illegal activities in Ghana.

Despite these illegalities and the extensive legal powers granted to the European Commission to combat IUU fishing by sanctioning third-country vessels, an official from the European Commission responded to the investigation, emphasizing the preference for “dialogue with countries, particularly the Republic of Ghana,” rather than taking direct action against specific companies.

This response has left many questioning the efficacy of the EU’s approach to combating IUU fishing.

As the biggest “market for seafood caught by the Ghana-flagged trawl fleet, EU consumers are inadvertently supporting illegal practices and severe overfishing in Ghana’s waters,” the report by the Environmental Justice Foundation concluded. 

The EU official went on to emphasize the importance of the catch certification scheme as a crucial tool in the fight against IUU fishing.

However, in light of numerous criticisms directed towards the EU catch scheme, Steve Trent, CEO of the Environmental Justice Foundation is advocating for “a risk-based approach to seafood inspections to keep out imports linked to illegal fishing, human rights abuses or the destruction of ocean ecosystems.”

Trent went on to suggest that “Imports to the EU from the Chinese-owned trawl fleet operating in Ghana should certainly be regarded as high risk, closely scrutinized and, if any evidence of illegal fishing is found, refused entry.”

Impact on Fishers, & ineffective penalties & regulatory oversight

Francis Adam, President of the Central Region Fishermen, expressed deep concern over the continued neglect of calls for reform in Ghana’s fisheries sector, despite the “yellow card” warning issued by the European Union (EU).

Adam highlighted the alarming decline in catches by artisanal fishers in the country, making the last decade particularly most challenging.

Reflecting on his three decades in the fishing business, Adam expressed his frustration about the dramatic reduction in catches, emphasizing the “absurdity” of the “absence of export restrictions for their fish.”

“Everybody is allowed to target our fish, without serious consequences. This is ridiculous,” he said.

Currently, more than 200 coastal villages in Ghana rely on fishing as their primary source of income exacerbating the gravity of the situation. According to the World Bank, the average annual income per artisanal canoe has plummeted by up to 40% in the past decade, plunging thousands of fishers and their dependents into abject poverty.

Adding to the complexity of the issue, many companies in Ghana possessing export licenses can freely export small pelagic fish to the EU without any restrictions. This has raised concerns about the sustainability of Ghana’s fish stocks and the exploitation of the endangered species.

Mr. Frank Aihoon is the managing director of Panofi Company and President of the Ghana Tuna Association. His company currently holds an export license to the EU. He acknowledged that his company exports small pelagic and Tuna but maintained that he adheres to the regulations.

“I know the small pelagic fish stock is an endangered species,” he said, adding, “There are people who are using the wrong fishing net, which is affecting the fish stock, especially the trawlers.”

Disturbingly, documents obtained during this investigation also showed that eight industrial trawlers were fined a combined 492,000 cedis in the first quarter of 2023 for various fishery infractions, a figure significantly lower than what is required by law. Meanwhile, information on whether these fines were paid remains undisclosed.

A review of the licensed vessel list for the second quarter of 2023 showed that vessel owners: Wannimas Complex, Obourwe & Co. Ltd and Nduman Fishing had been re-licensed to operate in Ghana’s waters, raising questions about the effectiveness of the ministry’s penalties and regulatory oversight.

Mr. Aihoon underscored the urgent need for enforcement of existing laws, warning that failure to do so would have far-reaching consequences for the entire fishing sector, not just the trawlers.

“The regulators need to enforce the laws because when the EU bans Ghana it will affect everyone in the fishing sector, not only the trawlers,” he argued.

For fisherman Francis Adam and his association members, the fishing trade that was once the backbone of thriving and a vibrant local economy is now a pale shadow of itself.

“We can’t survive for long with all these challenges, we simply can’t, something must be done, perhaps the EU, but the minister and her team must do more” he said.

The report is by Gideon Sarpong. Daniel Abugre Anyorigya contributed to the report.

This report is supported by JournalismFund Europe.

The post The endangered ‘People’s Fish’ flood the EU market deepening the plight of Ghanaian fishers appeared first on iWatch Africa.

Report by Magdalena Krukowska & Zuza Nazaruk

We enter the plantation of Ghana Palm Oil Development Company (GOPDC), a subsidiary of the Belgian SIAT (Société d’Investissement pour l’Agriculture Tropicale), in the Aboabo village from across a football field. Soon we bump into Nana Abbo, a retired villager arranging palm leaves on the floor. She makes brooms to sell for 2 cedis (0.15 EUR cent) and make some living. Although GOPDC has no use for palm leaves, she says that broom-making is a dangerous enterprise: “We felt that since we didn’t have jobs to do, we could go to the company, get some palm branches, make brooms and get earnings out of it. But the security guards, when we are caught, beat us or take us to prison, for just the palm branches. This makes life very unbearable.”

Nana Abbo’s story is typical of the Aboabo and Okumaning villagers, whose rights were trampled when the palm oil plantation settled in. The abuses happened despite a sophisticated certification scheme designed to prevent precisely such human rights and environmental violations. Our investigation shows how a voluntary industry standard  repeatedly fails to ensure dignified working and living conditions, underscoring the importance of the currently-negotiated EU directive on corporate due diligence. 

Why not sustainable palm oil 

GOPDC delivers certified-sustainable palm oil to European and African markets, for example,  Unilever or PZ Cussons. Palm oil’s diverse uses – from lipsticks and soap to crisps and cooking oil – made it ubiquitous in our daily life. 

GOPDC’s parent company SIAT joined Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004 as one of the first members. GOPDC was the first in West Africa to be RSPO-certified in 2015, and SIAT repeatedly expresses the ambition to promote the certification in the region. SIAT is part of several RSPO working groups tasked with, for example, deciding on national interpretations of the RSPO standards in Ghana and Nigeria or promoting the consumption of certified palm oil. The company’s previous Deputy Managing Director, Gert Vandersmissen, sat on the RSPO Executive Board representing “Rest of the World”. The company’s section on the RSPO website states that SIAT wants “to be ahead of the other producers in Africa and be an example so that others are convinced to join the RSPO as well”.

The RSPO certifications came to SIAT despite multiple cases of abuse in the company’s compensating of indigenous communities for their land and employing workers, some of which go back decades. 

The European Commission deemed voluntary, industry-driven certifications – such as the RSPO – inefficient in preventing environmental and human rights abuses and in 2022 proposed the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The directive’s original proposal envisioned that companies screen their full supply chains to improve their respect for human and environmental rights. During the lobbying process, business representatives have worked to convince Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and European Commission officials that voluntary industry standards are enough to mitigate risks of violations. The present version of the Directive’s proposal, to be negotiated this summer, obliges companies to take much more robust steps to mitigate any risks identified during due diligence. This may include developing and implementing policies and procedures to address identified risks, as well as engaging with suppliers to address issues if they arise. 

Giuseppe Cioffo, a Corporate Regulation and Extractives Officer at development NGO CIDSE, explains, “The law would have obliged SIAT to prevent abuses by its subsidiaries, including by consulting communities and respecting the rights of Indigenous people. If a strong civil liability regime was implemented, it would allow communities to hold responsible the parent company in Belgium for the abuses committed by its subsidiaries abroad. It would allow communities to seek justice where the headquarters of SIAT are located. Importantly, it would also lift barriers to accessing justice in such cases – including removing monetary fees and language barriers. In short, the SIAT Group would not be able to dismiss its responsibilities with regards to the actions of its subsidiaries.”

As the story of SIAT’s supposedly sustainable plantation in the Eastern region of Ghana shows, it is about time.

No other choice than precarious labour 

Before 2004, Abbo and other villagers grew food and cash crops on the land of a failed large-scale government plantation*, which they reclaimed per customary land rights. They recall that they could feed their families and sell extra produce at the local market. When GOPDC came to survey their land, the villagers opposed the establishment of a palm oil plantation but were met with brutal opposition.

“SIAT came with the regional minister, the inspectors of police, even the chief of the community, to forcefully eject us from our land and take us to prison,” Laryea Isaac, who got imprisoned and lost his land then, states. When the opposing villagers came back from imprisonment, “every property they had on the land was destroyed and SIAT was in the process of establishing palm,” Isaac adds. In 2004, GOPDC took around 12 000 hectares. 

Villagers were entitled to compensation for their lost assets but what they received was largely inadequate. Some never received anything. Those that did claim that the compensation was not based on a third-party valuation of their losses. 

Then, in 2010, the company extended its plantation by another 3000 hectares, again without offering adequate compensation. 

SIAT claims to assist “communities with education and social infrastructure development such as roads, potable water, electricity and dispensaries.” Despite promises of development, the palm oil plantation impoverished the villagers from Aboabo and Okumaning estates. Without their farmland, the villagers are forced to buy daily staples which they could grow before: “We do not have food to eat because we grow nothing apart from palm oil,” Daniel**, who currently works for GOPDC, states. 

Increased food prices mixed with decreasing employment opportunities pushed many villagers into working for GOPDC. “They took our land away and we ended up working for them,” Emmanuel Obeng, who lost his lucrative citrus trees in 2004, states bitterly. Obeng moved on to other work but many villagers continue working for GOPDC, where working conditions are dubious. 

During our visit in 2023, Daniel told us that he does “very hard work for minimal wages”. He could not disclose his wage, but Wisdom Koffi Adjawlo, director of the NGO Youth Volunteers for Environment Ghana, who has been monitoring the case, stated the compensation at 500 cedis (39 EUR) per month. The minimum monthly wage in the country is 400 cedis but already in 2018, the living wage was estimated at 900 cedis. 

Even this small wage is highly precarious. Adjawlo and Daniel disclosed that the company offers only temporary contracts to plantation workers. By not hiring permanent employees, GOPDC avoids paying for health insurance. Caring for oil palms is hard physical work with risks of physical injuries such as cuts or strains. If an accident occurs, the workers have to take care of their health on their own, and the company can refuse to reinstate them after their leave. Additionally, GOPDC does not offer appropriate protective equipment. The workers get one set every year, regardless of wear and tear, and must bear any costs of fixing it. Those tasked with spraying the plantation with chemicals feel this failing particularly acutely. 

RSPO certification despite abuses and court cases

GOPDC received its first RSPO certification in 2015 from the certification body TÜV Rheinland Indonesia. The way RSPO works is that certification bodies conduct a main audit to determine whether a company is fit to receive the certification. The certificate is valid for five years, with yearly audits and updates from the company.

According to RSPO spokesperson Kimasha Williams, “Unless investigations conclude otherwise, a member is not held in violation of the RSPO’s Standards for growers, the Principle and Criteria (P&C).”

In an email exchange, TÜV Rheinland stated that it conducted onsite audits at GOPDC between 2014 and 2020 according to RSPO guidelines. “The result of the audits was that the company met the requirements during the mentioned period,” the certification body’s spokesperson stated. 

In 2021, GOPDC got re-certified for another five years but with a different certification body: SCS Global. The certification body refused to speak to us, citing the “confidential nature” of their work (They did not have the same constraint while responding to Milieudefensie’s closer look at their certification practices).

During several audits by two certification bodies, there were at least three open court cases against GOPDC, which did not deter the company from receiving RSPO certification. In 2015 and 2017, five villagers from Aboabo demanded that the GOPDC pays them due compensation for their lost crops and lands. In 2021 – the year of the renewed RSPO certificate – the court ruled that GOPDC has to compensate the farmers based on the valuation of crops, lands, and nurseries conducted by the government body Land Valuation Board of Lands Commission. 

In its 2021 commitment to RSPO certification, SIAT states that it has “mechanisms in place to ensure (…) No existence of conflicts or disputes occurs that are not under resolution through a mutually agreed process.” Yet, its Ghanaian subsidiary continues to stall the court orders. In 2021, the company filed a motion to set aside the order for the Land Valuation Board to assess the crops. The court described GOPDC’s opposition as “way out of line” and “an abuse of the court system.” It stated: “The court sees the arguments of GOPDC in these two application [sic] as an attempt to frustrate a legitimate order made by this court.” The judge dismissed the motion and ordered GOPDC to pay both the compensation and legal costs. 

GOPDC now brought the case to the higher instance, the national court, where it awaits the decision. The plaintiffs still do not know when the court proceedings will resume. 

RSPO has its own complaint system. Yet, the Aboabo community is unaware of it. Diana Kyeremateng from the NGO Youth Volunteers for Environment Ghana highlighted that the community needs a person familiar with the certification to help them navigate the system. 

In an email exchange, RSPO spokesperson Williams suggested that “the certification process was not clear” to us, adding that “indeed it does take some time to understand”. If journalists who spend months on research supposedly cannot comprehend the certification process, one is left to wonder how affected communities or end consumers are supposed to get it. Subsequently, Williams informed us that there are currently no open complaint cases against GOPDC. 

The certification body TÜV Rheinland and consultant NGO ProForest noticed several of GOPDC’s abuses as far back as 2014. Then, ProForest described “major concerns over delay in payment” to people evicted from their farmland.

The NGO, however, only consults, and the final decision on certification is left up to the certification body. TÜV Rheinland also noticed several violations of the RSPO principles. In its 2017 surveillance report on GOPDC, the certification body describes an inadequate bonus system, a lack of facilities for protective equipment, and a failure to respect the company’s own medical insurance policy. 

According to the certification body, SIAT, and RSPO, all those issues were fixed in the following years. Yet, as our visit has shown, the problems still prevail in 2023 – and to such an extent that last year, the villagers’ struggle reached Brussels. A coalition of local NGOs from Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria, all affected by abuses from SIAT’s subsidiaries, visited SIAT’s headquarters and the European Parliament to bring attention to their case. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive was an impetus for their visit, as it gave them hope that multinational corporations’ impunity in the Global South is coming to an end. “The [corporate sustainability] due diligence directive is a very good stand that countries, communities, and NGOs, could use to address the legality of possessing our land by the foreign company which only farms for export, not for the good of our communities,” Adjawlo, who represented Ghanaian communities, said.

The coalition met with SIAT’s CEO, Jan van Eykeren, who promised to meet the affected communities. Although the schedule was ready, the meeting did not take place. “We feel fooled once again,” Adjawlo shared.

The year of their Brussels visit, the three-country coalition also issued a statement in which they announced their boycott of the RSPO. 

Enforcement issues 

RSPO established “a definition of sustainable palm oil,” states Peter Oosterveer, a professor specializing in food systems at the University of Wageningen. “There’s a reference point. Before that, no one had a definition of sustainable palm oil. That’s an important step.” Yet, many issues stand in the way of ensuring real sustainability on the plantations. Difficulty in monitoring, the complexity of land rights, and conflict of interest due to financial dependency are the most important ones. 

While the RSPO standards may be applause-worthy, their implementation is often dubious: “Much depends on monitoring and control, and that’s often problematic,” Oosterveer states. NGOs have been highly critical of RSPO’s audit system. Danielle van Oijen from Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) calls the auditing a “check-the-box exercise”: “The auditors look at the company’s policies and then they have a few days of going inside the plantation.” Besides, auditors usually do not come from the region they are surveying. The first RSPO certificate for GOPDC was issued in Indonesia, while the second was agreed in the United States. “How, as a foreigner, who doesn’t even speak the language or know the local context, do you assess in a few hours if what the company says in the policies is true and happens in the plantations?,” van Oijen asks. 

TÜV Rheinland claims that they interviewed many stakeholders, including over 100 GOPDC employees and their family members, and visited at least two villages per audit. The villagers and Wisdom Koffi Adjawlo claim that at least 21 communities were affected by GOPDC’s actions. The rate of visiting two villages per audit for five years did not allow the certification body to visit even half of the affected communities.  

Nana Abbo, a retired villager beaten up for collecting GOPDC’s leftovers, did not make it into any audit reports. 

Additionally, customary land rights in West Africa are often not documented, which makes it a complex task to decipher property claims. Multiple NGOs, such as GRAIN and Friends of the Earth, point out that communities are often informed of the land lease agreement after it has already been concluded between the company and the government. The delay renders the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) principle unfulfillable. “Land conflicts are complex,” van Oijen highlights. “It’s just not possible to make a full assessment during an audit.” 

Finally, there is an inherent conflict of interest if companies pay certification bodies. According to Williams, having certification bodies with an “independent and third-party” relationship to RSPO do audits on the ground is a way to “ensure transparency and avoid conflict of interest.” Yet, this dependency can work the other way round: “If certification bodies are too harsh and do not give the certificate, they will not be hired anymore. A plantation company can shift to another certification body. This is a big problem in voluntary certification schemes,” van Oijen highlights. 

The issue is not restricted to RSPO but is endemic among voluntary certification schemes. RSPO’s sole accreditation body, Assurance Services International, which accredits companies like TÜV Rheinland or SCS Global to audit and give certifications, was recently named in an investigation on how FSC paper labels do not prevent deforestation. SCS Global was called out for certifying plantations with human rights abuses across West Africa. 

All this evidence circles back to why the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive came about – voluntary schemes do not ensure that no human rights violations take place. According to Van Oijen, “The industrial palm oil sector just has too many structural issues with labour, environment – like pollution and deforestation – and also with land rights. These structural issues are not solved by any certification scheme.”

Adjawlo puts it more bluntly: “RSPO is a protective body to legalize what the companies are doing. If you look at the criteria on which RSPO is based to license palm oil companies, you realize that they don’t take into consideration the human rights aspect. If they did, what happened here in Ghana, what is happening in Nigeria, cannot be happening. And RSPO goes ahead to certify these bodies.”

MEPs managed to push away lobbying in the de-forestation directive, where tire companies tried to exclude the rubber sector. SIAT has rubber plantations in the Ivory Coast and Cambodia and its clients were part of the lobbying effort. It seems that the MEPs will manage also with CSDDD and not allow for voluntary certifications to suffice instead of actual, long-awaited and belated, due diligence by the companies themselves. 

As GOPDC keeps on stalling the compensation, the directive may be decisive in changing the fate of the Aboabo community. Otherwise, many villagers remain stuck despite keeping up their fight. GOPDC worker Daniel explained that he is a car mechanic who doubles as a driver. Yet, without money, he cannot move to a different town to work, renew his license, or buy a car. “My hands are tied. I can only work with the company here to make ends meet,” he shares.

*Infobox  – see below

**Name changed for security reasons

SIAT withdrew comments on the article, citing partial contextualisation and referring us to official documents. The company claims to have a publicly available policy covering its commitment to FPIC but it is nowhere to be found. Similar to GOPDC’s land tenure agreement, which, according to the company website, is available upon request. We have asked for it on six different occasions over the span of 2.5 months, from GOPDC’s Office Manager Augustine Owosu-Sarpong and SIAT’s Chief Business Development Officer Mano Demeure, but we never received it.  

The production of this investigation is supported by a grant from the IJ4EU fund. The International Press Institute (IPI), the European Journalism Centre (EJC) and any other partners in the IJ4EU fund are not responsible for the content published and any use made out of it. 

Infobox text

How did large-scale palm oil plantations appear in Africa? 

The recent resurgence of industrial palm oil plantations in Africa stems from brutal history. Most of the recent projects involve old concessions with long-simmering land conflicts. 

Today, the expansion of industrial oil palm plantations in Africa is dominated by a handful of large, multinational companies. Just five companies control about three-quarters of the planted, industrial oil palm plantation area on the continent. The two most important are SOCFIN of Luxembourg and SIAT of Belgium, which control a quarter of all the large oil palm plantations on the continent.

Both of these companies built their plantation empires upon the ruins of a World Bank programme to construct oil palm and rubber plantations across several countries in West and Central Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. That programme was carried out in close collaboration with SOCFIN’s consulting firm, SOCFINCO. 

The person leading SOCFINCO’s operations in Nigeria was the founder of SIAT, Pierre Vandebeeck. From 1974 to the end of the 1980s, SOCFINCO crafted master plans for at least 7 World Bank-backed oil palm projects in 5 different states. Each project envisioned creating a para-statal company to take over the state’s existing plantations and develop new ones, as well as palm oil mills. 

As the parastatal companies claimed to act in the national interest, the palm oil companies could be sure that government will use decrees and military force, where necessary, to uproot people out of lands considered suitable for oil palm cultivation. The African governments also used public money to pay for this expansion, by way of loans from the World Bank. In Ghana, the government forcibly acquired the community land in the 1970s for its palm oil ambitions.

Then, in the 1990s, with the state plantation companies deep in debt, the World Bank pushed for privatisation. Vandebeeck established his own company, Siat Group (Société d’Investissement pour l’Agriculture Tropicale) in 1991 which gradually took over formerly state-owned companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon and Ivory Coast. Today, SIAT’s subsidiaries own almost 47 000 hectares of palm plantations and over 5300 rubber plantations in Africa as well as it operates a 2700-ha rubber plantation in Cambodia.

However, many of the oil palm plantation projects that were announced over the past decade have failed, mainly because of the resistance of local communities that have been threatened by displacement and losing their source of income. As the report of The Alliance against industrial plantations in West and Central Africa shows, only 220 608 hectares have been developed into industrial oil palm plantations or replanted over the past decade. 

The reason for the failure of some investments is that many of the projects were led by companies with little or no previous experience with large-scale agriculture. Some of these companies simply wanted to profit from the rush for farmland in Africa, and most were interested in securing leases or concessions over large areas of land that they could then sell to another company after making minor investments in operations or no investments at all. 

Recent years have shown that industrial oil palm plantations are an ineffective mode of corporate agriculture. Despite considerable financial support from governments, financial institutions, or private donors, big palm oil companies only account for 10% of total harvested area of oil palms in Africa. Most of the palm oil sold in Africa comes from Malaysia and Indonesia. This cheap, low-quality palm oil undercuts the local markets for the higher-quality traditional palm oil supplied by small-scale producers.

Authors’ bios

Magdalena Krukowska (Belgium/Poland) – since 15 ys cooperating with Forbes magazine, professor of sustainability and journalism, author of the film reportages “Mantra of Bhutan”, “Shule Bora”, “War for the minerals of war”, broadcasted, among others in VOD.pl, TVN24, forbes.pl, and of the documentary „New City” about the land grabbing in the Philippines.

Follow her on Twitter    Find here on Lindkedin

Zuza Nazaruk (Netherlands/Poland) – Rotterdam-based journalist covering climate & environment. Current BIRN Fellow for Journalistic Excellence, a fellow with Civil Forum on Asset Recovery, and with International Journalists’ Programme. Her multimedia reporting appeared in Euronews Green, Unbias the News, DutchNews, Vers Beton, Kyiv Post, Gazeta Wyborcza, ENTR (France24), Equal Times, and more, in seven languages. 

Follow her on Twitter    Find her on LinkedIn

The post End of abuses-as-usual in sight? A Ghanaian community around the RSPO-certified plantation hopes so appeared first on iWatch Africa.

• UN Comtrade data shows that the European Union exported over $275 million worth of vehicles to Ghana in the last five years. “Many of these vehicles are comparable to those we consider end-of-life vehicles.”

• With an estimated 40% of Accra’s air pollution concentrations related to vehicle transport emissions, Accra’s yearly concentration of air pollution was 11 times higher than the WHO air quality standard as of 2020.

• Ghana’s local regulators; the Ghana Road Safety Authority, and the Ghana Standards Authority do not currently have any scientific specifications and emissions standards for auto spare parts exported to the country.

ACCRA, Ghana — In the bustling market of Abossey Okai in Accra, Ghana, one will find a vast array of imported auto parts from Europe and other parts of the world. The market is known for its wide variety of auto spare parts, including both new and used parts, and is a popular destination for those looking to repair or upgrade their vehicles.

However, the importation of end-of-life vehicles and used auto parts from Europe to the market is not only putting lives at risk but also contributing to significant environmental pollution in Ghana.

Robert Dumevo, a mechanic who runs his shop at Lapaz, a suburb of Accra, recounts how he narrowly escaped death on the N1 motorway in Accra. He had replaced a broken exhaust pipe on a client’s Hyundai Sonata, unaware that the replaced part was also faulty and resulted in the vehicle catching fire during a test drive.

“I was driving a ticking time bomb. My lungs were engulfed in smoke, and I struggled to breathe. I realized there was trouble when I tried to escape but my seat belt got jammed. I could feel the fire under my feet,” Robert recalled with some hint of trepidation.

Robert blames “unscrupulous spare part dealers” at Abossey Okai, Accra’s largest hub of spare parts importers, where he bought the replacement part.

“When you buy a used spare part at Abossey Okai, you cannot tell if it is fake, sub-standard, or faulty. Some businessmen are involved in the selling of sub-standard spare parts making it difficult to do our work,” he explained. (https://jardinefoods.com/)

Abossey Okai – A morgue for used car parts and end-of-life (ELVs) vehicles from Europe

Clement Boateng, the chairman of the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association, admitted that the prevalence of sub-standard auto parts ending up in vehicles and causing safety and environmental issues stems from the nature of auto parts imported from abroad. “Most of the second-hand auto parts dealers import parts from salvaged and end-of-life vehicles,” Clement revealed.

There are “over 15,000 shops” at Abossey Okai, with over fifty-five percent engaged in the import of used auto spare parts from abroad, he said adding, “when importing used auto parts, you must be there for physical inspection or have a trusted client. Otherwise, you will stay in Ghana, and they will load a thrash of auto parts containers to you.”

The used automobile parts and vehicle industry is one of the biggest in Europe and West Africa. Data provided by the Dutch Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), shows that “Europe exports over a million light-duty vehicles” to Africa annually. UN Comtrade data shows that the European Union has exported over $275 million worth of vehicles to Ghana in the last five years with Germany being the biggest exporter.

“Many of these vehicles are comparable to those we consider end-of-life vehicles,” ILT notes, bringing into question the nature of port inspections that take place in Europe before export.

Frank Duru, is a car exporter with several years of experience based in Germany. He explained that there are instances when an official car inspection before export is replaced by a personal glance of approval.

“A few of them [vehicles] do not have the roadworthiness certificate, but we see they are in good condition,” he disclosed.

“Neither the exporting nor importing countries have minimum requirements in place to ensure that only quality used vehicles are traded,” said Veronica Ruiz Stannah, an expert on transportation at the United Nations Environment Programme.

This allows for a lot of used cars and car parts in poor conditions to pass inspections at European harbors and depart for West Africa, where they create substantial safety, environmental and health problems for people like Robert.

Response to trade of ELVs and used spare parts in Europe and Ghana

In 2020, ILT conducted a study on the European export of used vehicles to West Africa. The study revealed that 80 percent of 280,000 vehicles exported to West Africa from the Netherlands were “old and below the Euro 4/IV emission standard,” and often lacked requisite “roadworthiness certification.”

The study also noted that the trend was not entirely different among other European markets such as Germany, Belgium and France, Netherlands, and Italy.

Marietta Harjono, a coordinating specialist at the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) of the Netherlands, explained that, at the harbours, inspectors can stop the “worst vehicles, when they are waste or hazardous waste,” after conducting checks with customs officials.

She however stressed that, while a lot of the used cars may not be categorized as waste, they might still not be appropriate for export.

ILT in a 2021 proposal to the European Commission (EC) on the revision of EU regulation on end-of-life vehicles concluded that “environmental and health problems will arise in case third countries lack a proper system for handling vehicles that reach their end-of-life situation and become waste.”

The European Commission is currently in the process of revising its directive on end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), but it remains uncertain if a “cross-border aspect” will be included in the final regulation to end the export of  ELVs to places like Ghana and Nigeria according to the ILT.

The EC did not respond to questions about ELVs and used spare parts ending up in places like Ghana.

Despite the health and environmental problems caused by end-of-life automobile parts and vehicles from Europe, Ghana’s local regulators; the Ghana Road Safety Authority, and the Ghana Standards Authority do not currently have any scientific specifications and emissions standards for auto spare parts exported to the country.

Head of Regulation, Inspection, and Compliance at the Ghana Road Safety Authority, Kwame Koduah Atuahene told iWatch Africa that his authority and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) are engaged in a conversation “to ensure that spare parts imports at least meet some conformity test and standards.”

The Ghana Standards Authority in a written response as part of this investigation also noted that: “The GSA does not have a written policy specific to vehicle spare parts. The Authority is currently pursuing the development of national standards for replacement parts (spare parts).”

Meanwhile, in 2002, Ghana introduced a regulation that made the import of vehicles over ten years more costly by imposing penalties.

Emissions, Health and Environmental Problems

In spite of this regulation, it is typical to encounter many cars releasing thick exhaust fumes while driving through Ghana’s capital, Accra, – a health hazard for many pedestrians, street hawkers, and shop owners resulting in thousands of deaths annually.

Accra’s air pollution is considered critical as around 16 percent of the air is severely polluted and unhealthy, with an additional 30 percent unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as people with asthma according to the Air Quality Index.

At an event to mark the International Day of Clean Air Blue Skies last September, Dr. Francis Chisaka Kasolo, the World Health Organisation Representative to Ghana noted that air pollution was the biggest environmental risk responsible for premature deaths from heart attacks, stroke, and respiratory diseases in the country.

With an estimated 40% of Accra’s air pollution concentrations related to vehicle transport emissions, its yearly concentration of air pollution was 11 times higher than the WHO air quality standard as of 2020.

The country imports about 100,000 vehicles per year, 90 percent of which are used vehicles.  Most of the cars currently used in Ghana are Euro 1 and 2, meaning that they are the most pollutant according to the EU emission standards.

So far, officials in Ghana have failed to implement legislation passed in 2020 that aims to completely ban the import of vehicles older than 10 years.

Daniel Essel, Deputy Director at the Ministry of Transport in Ghana, during a session at COP27, praised the legislation but failed to mention that the government had chosen not to implement it, raising issues about commitment of Ghanaian officials to addressing concerns related to ELVs and used car parts.

“Policymakers in Ghana are not doing enough to curtail used vehicle consumption and, to that end, reduce the harms – crashes, pollution, etc. – that come with it,” says Festival Godwin Boateng, a Ph.D. researcher at the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbia Climate School in New York.

Way Forward

To safeguard the environment and public safety, Dr. Boateng insists that any ban on ELVs in Ghana should be couched as part of broader policies such as investments to make public transport, walking and cycling cleaner, safer and affordable as well as investments in city planning and minibus electrification.

For a regional solution, the ILT recommends that “African governments agree as much as possible to harmonised or regional import standards for used vehicles. Whether it is on maximum age, minimum euro class, maximum mileage, proof of roadworthiness and or condition of the vehicles at export.”

Robert narrowly avoided a fatal outcome but unfortunately, thousands including the environment bear the consequences of years of ineffective policies on the import of ELVs and used car parts.

Until the necessary actions are taken, Robert believes that “many people will continue to perish each year” through no fault of their own.

Report by Gideon Sarpong, Additional reporting by Raluca Besliu, Daniel Abugre Anyorigya and Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi.

This investigation was supported by Journalismfund.eu.

The post Exporting Hazard: The dark side of European used cars and parts trade in Ghana appeared first on iWatch Africa.

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8. Ghana given ‘Yellow Card’ by the European Commission following iWatch’s investigation on illegal fishing
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10. Gideon Sarpong writes: Ghanaian women journalists face threats, abuse in carrying out mandate

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This year-long initiative seeks to influence policy decisions at the highest level of governance in Ghana and across the sub-region and will be a combination of virtual meetings and physical summits.

The theme for the maiden edition is; ‘’Navigating some critical sectors in 2021’ with guests sharing their expectations for the new year.

Co-founder of iWatch Africa, Gideon Sarpong believes that the dialogue series, “will be an important vehicle for talking through critical issues facing the region and finding areas of convergence for development.”

“I expect that these dialogue series would be an immersive experience with an end goal of designing practical blueprints across several domains for sustainable development,” he added.

The launch will be a virtual session and it is open to the public:

iWatch Africa is inviting you to the launch of its Policy Dialogue Series.

Topic: Navigating some critical sectors in 2021

Time: Saturday, January 16, 2021 02:00 PM GMT

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89608831830?pwd=N3p2TVlYV0k0cW90TDBkQ3YwZ0JEUT09

Meeting ID: 896 0883 1830

Passcode: 257197

Source: iWatch Africa | Follow @iwatchafrica

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The clean-up exercise which began in August 2017 has resulted in the revocation of the licenses of 9 universal banks, 347 microfinance companies, 39 microcredit companies, 15 savings and loans companies, 8 finance house companies, and 2 non-bank institutions, costing tax payers in Ghana over GHc20 billion.

As part of its effort to restore confidence in the banking and specialized deposit-taking sectors, the BoG embarked on the clean-up exercise three years ago to address issues concerning insolvent financial institutions whose continued existence posed risks to the interest of depositors.

The over 6000 direct jobs lost is a conservative estimate which does not take into account temporary and indirect jobs lost during this period. iWatch Africa expects that the direct jobs lost together with the general cost to the nation will see an increase before the close of the year.

Direct Jobs Lost

GCB Bank sacked over 420 workers after absorbing UT, Capital banks:

The GCB Bank sacked over 400 after it absorbed the UT Bank and the Capital Bank its Deputy Managing Director in charge of Finance, Mr. Socrates Affram told reporters in February 2018.

In total, he said, the bank had to lay off 420 staff out of the 850 it inherited from the two banks.

“Between UT and capital, we had regular staff of about 850 from day one and we worked with this number until February 2018 and that was when we pruned it down to 550 due to the rationalisation of the branches,” he explained.

“We assumed 53 branches and we settled on 22 so about 300 staff had to leave. About 120 also had to leave later because their documents did not meet our requirements,” he added.

First Atlantic Bank laid off over 100 after merger with Energy Bank

Over 100 workers of First Atlantic Bank lost their jobs in 2018 following the decision by the new owners to restructure after the merger with Energy Commercial Bank.

The redundancy as was reported then by Graphic Online was as a result of duplication of roles after the merger.

Consolidated Bank laid off over 1700 employees

Following the merger of five banks after BoG investigations revealed that they were insolvent, the newly formed bank, Consolidated Bank announced that it had laid off 1700 employees in 2018.

Out of the number, 700 were mobile bankers of the erstwhile BEIGE Bank, while 1,000 were former employees of the Royal Bank, the Construction Bank, uniBank and the Sovereign Bank who were transferred to the CBG under a purchase and assumption (P&A) agreement approved by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on August 1.

Microfinance shutdown: Over 2000 people lost their jobs

Over 2000 permanent staff of the collapsed Microfinance Companies have lost their jobs, Executive director of the Ghana Microfinance Institution Network, Yaw Gyamfi, has revealed.

This comes after the Bank of Ghana revoked the licenses of 347 insolvent microfinance companies due to liquidity challenges.

Speaking on Starr FM in June 2019, Mr. Gyamfi revealed that the number is likely to be higher if temporary staff are added to the total number of people likely to lose their jobs due to the action by the Central Bank.

Over 2,000 staff of collapsed savings & loans companies expected to lose their jobs

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Association of Savings and Loans Companies (GHASALC), Tweneboah Kodua Boakye also revealed that over 2,000 employees of the 15 Savings and Loans Companies whose licenses were revoked on August 16 are expected to lose their jobs.

“We are looking at employees in excess of 2,000. That is for the 15 savings and loans companies on the list,” he made this known on the Citi Eyewitness News. (https://miedemaproduce.com/

Mr. Aboagye further pointed out that the revocation was expected since a number of institutions were battling with challenges.

Cost of financial sector clean up to hit GH¢21 bn by end of year

Meanwhile, the cost of the ongoing financial sector cleanup is likely to reach GH¢21 billion by close of this year, according to figures by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

The Finance Minister projected during the Mid-year Budget Review presentation that it is likely that the cleanup could reach $3 to $4 billion dollars by end of this year.

This is equivalent to GH¢21 billion using the Bank of Ghana’s dollar transaction rate for commercial banks.

The huge cost of the financial sector clean-up is raising concerns about whether the general approach to the financial sector clean-up was sound.

It is also uncertain whether the appointed Receivers will be able to recover the costs from owners and directors of the liquidated financial institutions.

Meanwhile, the projected GH¢21 billion is likely to increase further by the end of this year.

Court Cases and Convictions

The receivers of Defunct banks (uniBank Ghana Ltd, the UT Bank, the Capital Bank, the Royal Bank, the Construction Bank, the Beige Bank and the Heritage Bank) have started legal proceedings against 50 directors and shareholders for their roles in the collapse of the banks but have so far failed to secure any convictions.

A Special Investigative Team (SIT) set up to probe financial crimes in the country has also referred many dockets on some members of staff of the defunct banks to the Attorney-General’s Office for advice and possible prosecution.

The receivers, Messrs Nii Amanor Dodoo of KPMG, Vish Ashiagbor and Eric Nana Nipah, both of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), are also pursuing 31,000 customers of the failed banks to recover more than GH¢10 billion in loans and advances.

Many Ghanaians have expressed worry that failure of the State to hold the directors and shareholders of these defunct financial institutions accountable will embolden others which may ultimately result in similar schemes in the future.

Read Also: Ghana’s Banking Crisis: How Ex-President Mahama’s brother GHC302M debt collapsed UT Bank

Meanwhile, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison, speaking at the Ghana CEO Summit in May called for the establishment of special courts to hasten the pace of the loan recovery process and bring finality to the many cases brought against some directors and shareholders of the defunct financial institutions.

“In my opinion, designating special courts and judges to adjudicate matters relating to specific issues arising out of the bank resolutions and revocation of licences, given the public interest and the enforcement of collateral agreements, will help speed up the process.

“Without an efficient judicial system that is prepared to deal with cases in a swift and decisive manner, all the work done in sanitising the banking system will not yield the desired results and expected outcomes,” Dr. Addison stated.

Report by Gideon Sarpong | iWatch Africa |
Follow @gideonsarpong

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The government in the 2017 Budget promised to set in motion the ‘One village, One dam’ initiative, but two years down the line, iWatch Africa can confirm that little progress has been made towards fulfilling this promise.

In the last couple of days, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng has commissioned 10 dams in four regions across Northern Ghana which is expected to be completed within 6 months.

Though this should be good news for farmers in those communities, the number is well below the 65 earth dams promised in the 2017 Budget as well as the 570 dams announced by Ghana’s Vice President, H.E. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia during the annual “Paarigbielle” festival in 2018.

Read Also: Open Data Day: iWatch Africa criticizes DOVVSU & MoGCSP over failure to publish data on violence and discrimination against women

iWatch Africa checks with the Ministry of Special Development revealed that as at January 2019, rehabilitation designs for the following dams: Sankana (UWR), Tanoso (BAR), Kpando-Torkor, (VR) Amate (ER), Libga and Golinga (NR) as well as 12 small dams under the One-Village-One-Dam programme had been completed but construction had not begun.

The One Village One Dam initiative will help farming communities have all-year-round access to water for irrigation especially during the dry season and eventually reduce the impact of climate change on their livelihoods.

By Gideon Sarpong | iWatch Africa

The post Akufo-Addo gov’t fails to deliver promised 65 earth dams two years after budget commitment appeared first on iWatch Africa.

The government described the 2019 Budget as, “A Stronger Economy for Jobs and Prosperity,” promising to create over 200,000 skilled jobs as a result of it policies and programs in the agricultural sector.

 Below are some top 10 agricultural commitments in the 2019 Budget which will be tracked by iWatch Africa throughout the year:

 Planting for Food and Jobs Programme

• Government has promised to continue with the program with a target enrolment of one million farmers and registration of additional 500,000 farmers on the biometric farmer database system.
• In 2019, the government has promised to launch the livestock model of Planting for Food and Jobs called “Rearing for Food and Jobs” with the objective to increase the production of selected livestock, especially poultry.
• The construction 30 new warehouses (1,000mt capacity each) equipped with seed cleaners, dryers and weighing scales to minimize losses along the supply chain.
• The launch the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) model of the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme. This is aimed at promoting selected tree crops including coconut, cashew, coffee, rubber, mango and oil palm, and diversifying from the dominant cocoa crop. The government promises distribute seedlings free of charge to farmers and will be implemented in 142 districts in all the 10 regions.
• In 2019, the government has promised to distribute 13,000mt of subsidized seeds for priority crops (cereals, legumes and vegetables) and 200,000 bundles of cassava planting materials; 438,900mt subsidized inorganic fertilizer and 30,000mt of organic fertilizers.

One Village, One Dam

• The commitment to construct 12 small dams under the One-Village-One-Dam programme as well as rehabilitation of the following dams; Sankana (UWR), Tanoso (BAR), Kpando-Torkor, (VR) Amate (ER), Libga and Golinga (NR) in 2019.
• Construction of 200 boreholes mounted with solar water pumps throughout the country to harness groundwater to increase access to water for crop and animal watering.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

• In 2019, the government has promised to build two greenhouse villages will be at Akumadan in Ashanti Region and Kasoa in Central Region.
• Construction of two facilities worth US$216 million for import of farm machinery and equipment suitable for smallholders in 2019.
• The government has promised to promote sheep and piggery production  by stocking the National Livestock Breeding Stations with 50,000 sheep and goats and 8,000 pigs to be distributed to 8,000 farmers.

As part of our mandate to undertake evidence-based, value for money assessment of government’s commitments to Ghanaians, iWatch Africa will carry out an extensive assessment of these key agricultural commitments as contained in the 2019 Budget.

By Gideon Sarpong | Policy and News Content Director

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The government of Ghana promised in the 2018 Budget Statement to distribute assorted farm equipment including: 200 tractors and matching implements, 1,000 power tillers and walking tractors as part of its flagship Planting for Food and Jobs program.

Kojo Ahagde, a rice farmer at Atsiekpi, expressed his frustration after rice farmers in the region were sidelined during the first phase of the program in 2017, which mainly involved distribution of seeds and discounted fertilizer.

“I hope that this year would be different. Last year, we didn’t receive any support from the State. The program had little to do with rice farmers,” Mr. Ahagde told iWatch Africa.

The Planting for Food and Jobs program received a major boost last April following the signing of a 20-million Euro credit between Ghana and the Czech Republic Export Bank.

Zachariah Hagie, who is also a rice farmer at Kpenu, hopes that farmers in the Volta region will benefit from the loan facility in the form of mini-tractors, compact tractors and combine harvesters.

“The difficulty most farmers in the region face is the delay in deployment of combine harvesters to harvest our rice. We expect that the loan facility will benefit all farmers not only farmers who are connected to the government in power,” Mr. Hagie stated.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has assured small-holder farmers that the new credit facility from the Czech Republic Export Bank will benefit many farmers in the country.

“The money will be divided into two tranches, with the first tranche being utilised for the procurement of 220 sets of compact tractors, while the second tranche will be used to purchase 300 multi-purpose mini tractors,” the minister stated.

“This is what the Planting for Food and Jobs programme is all about — supporting small-holder farmers to expand their productivity,” he added.

Read Also: Upper West Region: Farmers urge government to implement the ‘One Village One Dam’ pledge

Planting for Food and Jobs is an initiative of the government launched in April 2017 to encourage the youth to go into agriculture and increase agricultural production in Ghana.

Report by Gideon Sarpong | iWatch Africa

The post Planting for Food & Jobs: Neglected Rice farmers in Volta Region appeal for gov’t support appeared first on iWatch Africa.

The government of Ghana promised in the 2018 Budget Statement to build a total of 192 small dams and dugouts in 64 districts in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. This initiative is part of the government’s effort to create jobs for the youth and increase food production in Ghana.

Speaking to iWatch Africa, Joseph Abanga, who is a rice farmer at Tumu complained bitterly about the lack of progress by the government to fulfill its promise.

“A lot of farmers in this region were encouraged by the prospect of double cropping when government promised that many dams would be built this year. Sadly, we are yet to see the promise materialize in our village.”

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia also stated in March 2018 that the government is committed to revamping the Tumu Ginnery before the end of the year.

“I am aware of the contribution of farmers in the Tumu Traditional Area to the production of cotton and the textile industry in Ghana, especially the establishment of the cotton ginnery at Tumu. I am informed that the machines at the ginnery can be made to work again even after being idle for quite some time,” he noted.

“Government is in contact with prospective investors, some of whom have expressed interest in the Tumu Ginnery, and we certainly would facilitate the revamping of the Tumu Ginnery,” he stated.

Amin Habib, who is a maize and cotton farmer in Sissala urged the government to hasten its effort to revamp the ginnery as promised.

“It is very difficult and costly to get the seeds out of the cotton and its takes a long time to get it done without machines. We call on the government to revamp the ginnery or build a new one for us,” Habib stated.

Senior Lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population at the University of Ghana, Raymond Kasei is of the view that the ‘one village one dam’ program will boost the country’s output from the agric sector.

“The times the rains begin is a big problem for farmers. It is something that affects agriculture in this country. Many of our farming practices rely heavily on rain-fed agriculture so the only village one dam principle will be very helpful for us,” he said.

According to the lecturer, the one village one dam policy will upgrade farmers from having to constantly depend on rainfall to ensure their farms are watered to more effective and convenient irrigation systems.

“We might divert from rain-fed agriculture to irrigation farming,” he added.

A number of farmers in northern parts of the country have expressed worry over unfavourable weather conditions, which they say is affecting their production and driving a number of prospective farmers from the sector.

Read Also: Ghana Medical Association: ‘Emergency healthcare system in crisis’

A mid-year assessment of government’s commitment to construct 192 small dams in the three northern regions of Ghana has revealed that only 5 percent of these projects have actually commenced.

Report by Gideon Sarpong | iWatch Africa

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