It is emerging that one of the intended consequences of Ghana’s rapid and uncontrolled urbanization is the food insecurity challenges the country is currently facing.
The food insecurity challenge is not just about post-harvest losses or lack of modern technology; it is closely linked to how the country builds its cities.
This is the warning from Dr. Jabir Mohammed, Senior Lecturer and Financial Economist at the University of Ghana Business School, who argues that uncontrolled urbanization or what can be described as “over-concretization,” is quietly eating away at the nation’s ability to feed itself.
Dr. Jabir Mohammed, who was speaking on the growing pressure on Ghana’s food systems, painted a gloomy and troubling picture of how fertile lands that once produced food are rapidly being converted into housing estates, stadiums, and commercial developments, sadly, often without long-term planning.
“We are not supposed to build houses along certain routes in Accra, yet we have destroyed everywhere and used everywhere,” he said. “Where are we going to get access to food when those lands were arable lands?” the Senior Lecturer lamented in an interview monitored by The High Street Journal.
When Farmland Becomes Concrete
It is a known fact that across Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, and other fast-growing cities, real estate development is booming. But according to Dr. Mohammed, much of this growth is happening on fertile agricultural land.
Citing an example from Tamale, his native area, lands that were suitable for farming have been sold for housing. Traditional authorities, under pressure from urban expansion and rising land values, have released land for development, even when those lands were once productive farmlands.
For Accra, the situation, he says, is not different. He points to areas such as Baatsona, once linked to agricultural activity connected to the University of Ghana, which have now been overtaken by real estate. Trees have been cleared. Open land has disappeared. Concrete has replaced crops.
Although each development may look like progress, they raise a serious question of what happens when cities expand over the very lands meant to grow food?
“If you come to Tamale, where I’m sitting and having this conversation, you will realize that where we shouldn’t have built houses, the chiefs have sold the land to the people to build houses when these lands are arable land,” he lamented.
He further added,”the University of Ghana used to have the Baatsona area, where they built the stadium for the All-African Games; those places were our farmlands. Now go and see, the whole place has been used for real estate. The tree, everything has been destroyed.”
The Link Between Urbanization and Food Prices
Food security is not just about having farmers. It is about having land to farm, water to irrigate, and climate conditions that support crop growth. Dr. Mohammed argues that poor urban planning disrupts all three.
As farmland shrinks and concretes expand, local food production declines. When cities spread without planning, green belts disappear. Natural drainage systems are altered. Trees are cut down. This results in heat intensification, and rainfall, a very critical component of farming in Ghana, patterns shift.
“You will notice that the rain pattern, the weather pattern, everything has changed. It is because of urbanization,” he explained.
The result of this situation is less production. Coupled with increased demand due to an expanding population, the food produce becomes more expensive.
In addition, agricultural experts explain that when food must travel longer distances because nearby farms no longer exist, transport costs increase. When production falls, supply tightens. When climate patterns shift, harvests become unpredictable.
A Planning Failure
Dr. Mohammed believes the core issue is weak urban planning enforcement. Ghana has zoning rules. There are lands that are not supposed to be developed. There are layouts meant to preserve certain corridors. But enforcement, he argues, has been inconsistent.
It is worthy of note that urban growth itself is not the enemy. Cities naturally expand as populations grow. The problem, he suggests, is expansion without structure and plan. Ghana’s rapid expansion, he says, is without protection for agricultural zones, without integrated transport systems, and without clear boundaries between residential areas and productive land.
In countries where urban planning is strict, farmlands are often protected. Agricultural belts are preserved to ensure the food supply remains stable. In Ghana, those protections are either weak or poorly enforced.
“So the government’s inability to do proper urbanization planning is the problem,” he did not mince words.
The Bottomline
Dr. Jabir is therefore calling for smarter development. He suggests that Ghana must rethink how it balances urban growth with food security.
This may include stricter zoning enforcement, protection of arable lands, better coordination between local authorities and traditional leaders, and long-term land use planning that sees farmland as strategic national infrastructure, not just empty space waiting for concrete buildings.
His fear is that “if cities consume the lands that feed them, how will they feed themselves tomorrow?
