Environmental and humanitarian organisation Help Foundation Africa has used this year’s World Hunger Day to raise urgent alarm over illegal mining’s growing threat to Ghana’s long-term food security, warning that the destruction of farmlands, forests, and water bodies is quietly dismantling the country’s ability to feed itself.
World Hunger Day, observed annually on 28 May, draws global attention to the more than 800 million people living in chronic hunger and this year carries the theme “The End of Hunger is in Our Hands.”
In a statement issued to mark the occasion, Help Foundation Africa said the real danger to food security begins not with the absence of food, but with the destruction of the environment that produces it. The organisation described illegal mining, widely known as galamsey, as steadily poisoning rivers, ruining fertile farmland, clearing forests, and threatening the livelihoods of farmers and fisherfolk across Ghana.
“The time to act is NOW,” the Foundation stressed, warning that galamsey was gradually creating conditions that could make hunger more widespread and increasingly difficult to reverse.
The group observed that rivers once used for irrigation and fishing are turning brown and chemical-laden, while farmlands that fed generations are becoming unusable. Declining crop yields and shrinking fish catches, it said, are already being felt in communities where illegal mining is most prevalent.
The Food and Agriculture Organization has similarly warned that the continued destruction of farmlands and natural resources through illegal mining poses a grave threat to Ghana’s food security, lending weight to Help Foundation Africa’s concerns.
The Foundation called on government, civil society, development partners, the media, and environmental advocates to intensify efforts against illegal mining. It framed the protection of forests, rivers, and agricultural land not merely as an environmental concern but as a matter of national survival tied directly to food availability for future generations.
Citizens were also encouraged to speak up, share awareness, and demand stronger enforcement against illegal mining activities.
