Despite the national ceremony to recognize the contributions of farmers to the national development, the Peasant Farmers Association believes the celebrations are needless since the livelihoods of farmers are under serious threat due to the galamsey menace.
The association says the government has not been decisive in dealing with the menace of illegal mining, widely known as galamsey which is a threat to the occupation of farmers.
The Executive Director of the association, Bismark Owusu Nortey maintains that they cannot fathom why in the presence of the devastating impact of illegal mining on farmlands and waterbodies, drastic measures have not been taken to curb the menace.
The association believes it is hypocritical on the part of the government to organize ceremonies and events to award farmers but look on for their major threat to flourish.
It is therefore the demand of the association that the authorities must act decisively on the problem of galamsey to save the lives and livelihoods of farmers in galamsey ridden areas.
“We are very clear on the devastative effect that it’s having on our farmers, how it is threatening their livelihoods, the pollution of our waterbodies, and unfortunately the government’s actions or inactions towards dealing with galamsey is not a testament of their commitment to addressing farmers’ concerns,” the Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers said in an interview monitored by The High Street Journal.
He further stressed that, “you can’t be celebrating a farmers day when a critical issue that is concerning farmers about their land and about their waters, you have not critically addressed it. That is something we find to be hypocritical..”
After several call for a state of emergency to be declared on illegal mining, the government rejected such demands but has currently deployed some security forces to flush out these illegal miners.
It is the anticipation of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana that the galamsey menace is decisively dealt with by the government to safeguard the work of farmers.
