"Record-breaking commodity prices and climate change have partly led to an explosion of galamsey, a byword for illegal artisanal mining. It is estimated to employ a million Ghanaians. and a host of environmental, agriculture and health problems has ensued. "In Ghana, we face what I call an existential threat. Our own survival is being challenged by the poisoning of our water bodies, the destruction of our forest reserves and farmlands. Our water is not safe. Our food is not safe,""
"Ghanaian cocoa farmers battle to stay competitive amid climate change and fluctuating commodity pricesImage: Xu Zheng/Xinhua/picture alliance "We've had so many people, children, even adults, falling into open pits left by irresponsible miners and drowning and dying," Serwaa says. Ghana's cocoa industry has suffered, even though Ghana is the second biggest exporter of cocoa beans after neighboring Ivory Coast. Ghana maintains price controls on the crop to support farmers in fact it raised the price per tonne of cocoa by more than 60% in dollar"
Record-breaking commodity prices and climate change have partly driven an explosion of galamsey, an illegal artisanal gold-mining activity that employs an estimated one million Ghanaians. The surge has produced widespread environmental, agricultural and health problems, including poisoned water bodies, destroyed forest reserves and farmlands, and unsafe food and water. Artisanal operations now use sophisticated earth-moving equipment, leaving open pits that have caused deaths. Ghana's cocoa sector faces declines amid climate pressures and fluctuating prices; Ghana is the world's second-largest cocoa exporter and raised the price per tonne by over 60% in mid-2025. Some farmers are selling land to informal miners, worsening rural impacts and linking illicit gold trade to diminishing agricultural yields.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]