The Deputy General Secretary of Ghana Agriculture Workers’ Union (GAWU), Dr. Paschal Ajongba Kaba, has expressed worry about the rate at which illegal mining,better known as galamsey, threatens Ghana’s Green Economy ambition.
According to Ajongba Kaba,Ghana’s forest cover has come under siege,courtesy galamsey activities which are pillaging Ghanaian vegetation, a development he named as leading factor accelerating climate change in Ghana.
He added that galamsey brings about climate change a lot, because a lot of Ghana’s forest is being destroyed, with over 700,000 cover of forest depleted because of galamsey activities.
“We cannot have a green economy with galamsey;we cannot have a green economy where we are cutting down cocoa trees for mining purposes and so for us to have a say in it .We must priorities green jobs and jobs that are sustainable,we must invest in the irrigation development.” Dr.Kaba said.
He spoke during an interview with the media at the GAWU National Executive Council Meeting,which was held in Kumasi recently, where GAWU educated its members about Just Transition,a process that aims to create a more sustainable economy while supporting those who might be negatively affected.
He disclosed inadequate funding for irrigation projects as a challenge hampering irrigation mitigation measures against climate change in Ghana, an antecedent the GAWU authority finds worrying since irrigation is crucial to the fight against climate change.
“Currently, irrigation development is one of the areas the government of Ghana has not prioritised. Funds within this sector are minimal.You can imagine just about three staff manning the whole of the middle belt.”
Calling for autonomy for GAWU, Dr. Paschal Ajongba Kaba appealed to government to make the Department of Agriculture either independent or semi-autonomous institution and named it Ghana Agricultural Service for the development of the Ghanaian agriculture sector.
GAWU is of the view that the structure whereby they (GAWU) work under the Ministry of Local Government does not augur well for development of agriculture and Ghana as a whole.
Equating their call to other agencies, he noted that just like the Ghana Health Service, Ghana Educational Service, they (GAWU) want to be autonomous with the formation of Ghana Agriculture.
Dr. Kaba believe it is time the government of Ghana prioritise agriculture and make the department of agriculture self sufficient. He argues that whatever policy the government of Ghana is bringing on board to become reality, it means people who work within the agricultural value chain,who are the staff of the agriculture service, will play a very key role.
“If these employers within that sector ,still operate under another sector ,which is the Local Government sector, at the end of the day, it becomes difficult for them to implement their own policies and so we as a union think it is time the government of Ghana priorities agriculture and make the department of agriculture self-sufficient.
Prof. Akua Biritwum, an Associate Professor at the Department for Labour and Human Resource Studies at University of Cape Coast, who was one of the resource persons at the event, told the media as the world battles climate change, a number of strategies are being rolled out including discouraging the use of fossil fuel.
However, Prof. Biritwum indicated that in the face of this global change, labour has added another dimension since there is going to be a trade off.
