“I went back home and couldn’t find food to buy. The land is now for real estate.”That was the cry of a bofrot (doughnut) seller at a bustling Accra market. Her words are not isolated complaints—they are the pulse of a looming national crisis: Ghana’s food system is under siege. And it’s not from droughts or pests. It’s from people, policies, and profit.
- The Crisis: Farmlands Are Disappearing Across Ghana, three main forces are attacking the agricultural backbone of the cou
- Urbanization: As cities like Accra, Kumasi, and Takoradi expand, farmlands are being rapidly converted into residential and commercial real estate. Fertile land that once grew maize, cassava, and vegetables is now covered in concrete and glass.
- Galamsey (Illegal Mining): In regions like Ashanti, Eastern, and Western, illegal small-scale mining has contaminated water bodies, degraded arable land, and displaced farmers. Lands that once supported cocoa farms and food crops now lie barren or poisoned.
- Land Speculation and Real Estate Takeovers: Investors are aggressively purchasing large tracts of farmland, fencing them off for future development. Many farmers—especially aging ones with no succession plans—are selling their lands to survive, not knowing it fuels a deeper food security crisis.
- The Impact: Ghana’s Food Supply Is Shrinking. This land loss is leading to:
- Reduced Domestic Food Production: Local staples such as plantain, yam, and maize are seeing lower yields due to less available land and degraded soil.
- Rising Food Prices: With supply unable to match demand, market women and urban dwellers are witnessing daily hikes in prices. Tomatoes, onions, and even traditional crops like kontomire (cocoyam leaves) are becoming expensive luxuries.
- Food Import Dependency: Ghana is increasingly relying on imports for basic food items, draining national reserves and exposing citizens to international price shocks.
- The Solution: What the Agric Minister Must Do. The Honorable Minister for Food and Agriculture has a critical role to play. Here are policy actions that can be taken:
- Accelerated Agricultural Land Protection Policy - Introduce a national farmland zoning act to legally protect agricultural lands, especially in peri-urban and high-yield areas. This would prevent indiscriminate conversion to real estate.
- Youth in Agriculture Land Schemes - Provide state-acquired lands to trained, landless youth under structured lease agreements. Make it conditional on actual farming use, with incentives like subsidized inputs and guaranteed market access.
- Galamsey Land Reclamation for Food - Collaborate with the Ministry of Lands to reclaim and restore degraded galamsey lands into community food production zones. Implement strict monitoring and enforcement to prevent re-entry by illegal miners.
- Urban Agriculture Incentives - Encourage urban farming through vertical gardens, rooftop farming, and greenhouse policies. Municipal Assemblies can be empowered to allocate spaces and offer tax incentives for city food producers.
- Digital Land Monitoring - Deploy satellite imaging and GIS to monitor land use in real-time. This will aid policy decisions and enforcement by flagging land use changes before permanent damage occurs.
- Final Thoughts: From Lament to Leadership. The bofrot seller’s story is more than an anecdote. It’s a signal of what happens when the country prioritizes buildings over bread. Ghana has the opportunity to reverse this tide—not just through speeches, but through smart, enforceable policies.
Food is not just about farming. It’s about survival, sovereignty, and social stability.
If the Minister acts boldly now, he can not only secure Ghana’s food supply but also restore the dignity and economic power of the farmers who feed the nation.
Opinion Piece: Prof. Kwabena N. Asante | African Agricultural Policy Expert and research fellow.
