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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Crime Against Humanity Underway in Ghana?


In 2007, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, described rapid investments in the production of biodiesels as “a crime against humanity”. Mr. Ziegler said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger judging from the haste in which arable land is being converted to the production of crops which are then burned for fuel. How serious are we to take Mr Ziegler’s observations? Was it only an attempt to make the headlines or the situation is that serious? Isn’t there anything that can be done to prevent this “crime to humanity”? These are some of the questions that keep bothering me since I learnt of the “land-grabbing craze” going on in some parts of Ghana just to produce biodisels. If this is going to be crime against humanity, will Prez Mills be mauled before the International Criminal Court in The hague one day to join Mr Taylor?

I must first make it clear that I am not against the production of biofuels, neither will I try to make a case for the production of biodiesels in Ghana. Instead, I will try to be objective in my assessment of where Ghana stands in this whole Biodiesel/fuel brouhaha. First of all, why are so many people concerned with biodiesel investments in Ghana? Biodiesel is part of the family of biofuels (biomass, bioethanol and biodiesel) which is any solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel produced from organic (once-living) matter. Biofuel can be produced either directly from plants or indirectly from industrial, commercial, domestic, or agricultural wastes.

I ask again, why are many people concerned about biodiesel investments in Ghana. Why was the Ghana Investment Promotion Council set up? Yes! To look for investments and we are getting investments so what’s the problem? Ghana is, as usual, setting the pace. As a country, we seem to be very happy to be the number in so many things, whether good or bad. We don’t seem to really look at things critically before endorsing it but we endorse it before we start thinking about what we did. Can you count the number of charters we have signed/ratified and how many of them we were the first to do so. We pride ourselves in “Ghana was the first country to ratify the UN charter on ….”. I wonder what we have benefitted from doing that. Come to think of it…does any per diem come in with these ratification? If yes, then I think I understand.

Back to the business of biodiesels. As a country what do we need? Biodiesels are good but is it the priority now? Have we prepared adequately to handle the effects of largescale biodiesel production? What policies are in place to govern the production of biodiesel in Ghana. What makes biodiesel investments in Ghana woth thinking about is the fact that, our agricultural lands are being used to produce sugarcane, jatropha, etc, for biodiesel for export whiles we can not produce enough food to feed ourselves. Oh, Prof Kwasi Andam, I miss u: “this is nonsensical”. It is sad that our arable lands in some parts of the Northern, Upper East and West and Brong Ahafo regions are being grabbed by multi-national companies to produce biodiesel whilst we sit down and not question it! It is someone’s job to see to it that we get food to eat. Where is the Ministry for Agriculture? Why are we always afraid to stand up for the right thing when foreign investors are involved? Food and biodiesels, which one is a major priority now? Ghana imports so much food which puts a major stress on our budgets yet instead of investing in production of food, we are looking on unconcerned whilst land for food crops are being taken for biodiesels.

Who are the immediate beneficiaries of biodiesel production in Ghana? As an environmentalist, I am very much aware of the benefits of the use of biodiesels compared to fossil fuels (crude oil). The growth in the production of biofuels has been driven, in part, by the desire to find less environmentally-damaging alternatives to oil. Biodiesels, compared to fossil fuels, emit less carbon into the atmosphere and as such mitigates climate change which is very important. Corn-based gasohol (a combination of unleaded gasoline and ethanol made from corn) reduces fossil energy use by 50 to 60 percent and pollution by 35 to 46 percent. Climate change has no barriers and even though Ghana does not emit so much carbon into the atmosphere, high emissions in America and Europe affect us here. From that angle, everyone benefits from any phenomenon that reduces emission of carbon. Great! But in this case of biodiesel production in Ghana we need to ask ourselves the question of priority! If we cannot produce enough food to feed ourselves, biodiesel then becomes a luxury. Food is basic! Moreover, the large tracts of land which have been taken over by these multi-national companies are producing biodiesel for export. The biodiesel is not to be used in Ghana. Then where is the sense if we give out our croplands for the production of biodiesels for export whilst we go hungry.

Production of crops for biodiesel is not starting in Ghana so there are examples to learn from. Recent increases in food prices have been attributed to the switch to biofuels. For example in the US, more farms are switching from the production of wheat and soya to corn, which is then turned into ethanol. More countries are looking for more enviroenmentally friendly alternatives to oil and are moving to biofuels. The European Union, for instance, has targeted 5.75 percent ethanol, derived from wheat, beet, potatoes, or corn, to be added to fossil fuels by 2010 and 20 percent by 2020. About a quarter of Brazil's transportation fuel in 2002 was ethanol. More than 11 percent of all automotive fuels sold in the United States are ethanol-blended, and that percentage is projected to increase in the future. Obviously, these statistics also indicate a growing demand for biofuels – and commercial interests are rushing to Ghana. And because Ghana accepts everything foreign in the name of investments, the country is being hailed in the international circles as becoming the Jatropha centre in Africa south of the Sahara. Another first? Saddening.

Our leadership must wake up to the signs. Ghana needs a good policy with legislation and strict enforcement to govern this biodiesel craze before we say “had we known”. Go to the mining and forestry sectors and there are lessons to learn. We’ve mined gold and cut timber from Ghana for ages but what can we show for it. Mining firms are destroying our rivers, polluting our lands and repatriating the profits to their countries. Is that what we want to continue? Timber firms have depleted our forests and left us with no hope: is that what we want to continue? We need to sit up and do what is expected. In 2005, the government of Ghana set up a Biofuel Committee (BFC) with the objective to develop a National Biofuel Policy (NBP). After a “study”, the BFC recommended among others that National Biofuel Policy should accelerate the development of the biofuel industry in Ghana with special emphasis on the production of biodiesel from Jatropha. What was considered about the food the people will eat when the lands are being used fro Jatropha? In Ghana we don’t eat Jatropha. I’ve heard some people say that the country, as part of a policy on biofuels, should set aside lands for the cultivation of Jatropha and others? What I ask is have we set aside enough land for the cultivation of food crops to feed our hurngry people? By the way which lands are to be set aside? Are we to sacrifice our right to food for biofuels?

Food prices are rising as more land is used to produce biofuels. Peoples farms are being taken over for the cultivation of biofuels? Waste is taking over our cities whilst we look on unconcerned: why don’t we rather go out there to invite investors to put their money in technologies that will enable the use waste to produce energy? Is the Ministry of Energy still there? People are losing their livelihoods and going hungry. What are we to do? Is any of our “caring leaders” listening? Are they going to keep quiet and supervise this crime against humanity? If they have not seen, have they not heard?

5 comments:

  1. My country should invest in both with the priority as follows:

    1. Food Production
    2. Bio-diesel

    I choose food production becasue that is the major challenge facing my country and not the production of bio-diesel, which is good anyway.
    If those who will grow the bio-diesel do not hv food, how can they cultivate the plant for the bio-diesel?
    Bio-diesel, primarly will be sold to the europeans for FX since we do not have a processing plant to refine. thus we will be selling raw product instead of finished product. when the europeans rfine and process it, then they inturn sell the finished product to us as such exhorbitant proces. So where lies the logic to rush and produce bio-diesel?
    we are already faced with the problem of exporting most of our farm produce in raw form. we are now taking steps to process most of them. most of our people do not get tomatoe, onion, yam, plantain at prices that one can easily accomodate.
    We must make sure that if the HR is there for Bio-diesel, then that force should be impressed upon to place the production of some food item or sort a priority onthe land meant for the planting of the biio-diesel plant.

    Food for the people first, food for cars and the european market second.
    Dont 4get, most these european countries seeking this bio-diesel plants are FOOD SUFFICIENT and they send us their excess food stuff. so since they already r food sufficient.

    Duke Nelson
    cell:233-24-4298767

    ReplyDelete
  2. Natural Resource as available wealth or riches found at a geographical area, produced by nature and used by man. Every country’s economy depends largely on its natural resources for growth and survival by means of export. The fact should not be overlooked that each country has in abundance a particular natural resource at its disposure for export to support its economic growth.

    However, unnecessary competition has led the struggle of national leadership in forcibly producing in quantities what is not available to them just to make a name for themselves, endangering the lives of countrymen.

    Biofuels are useful to every nation and each nation including Ghana must respect and accept the fact that there are petroleum producing countries in the world. Ghana after the introduction of cocoa by Tetteh Quashie used to be part of the largest exporters of cocoa which is and agricultural activities which could go hand in hand with food production for consumption. Production of cocoa has gone down and the same tracts of land that could have been used in producing cocoa and supported by foreign investors have been used in producing other food crops in the name of export for biofuel production and other industrial activities such as mining.

    PART I

    Maame Adwoa Nyarko Mensah

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  3. Mining communities are faced with serious treats so far as their health and lives are concerned. Miners dig under buildings of their settlement in search for minerals leaving building hanging and communities’ poorly planned with Obuasi as an example. Chemicals also pollute their lands such that food produced there taste differently. This is because the chemicals intend form part of the nutrients that support the plants growth. A typical example is the oranges produced at Obuasi, popularly called “obuasi ankaa”, soo sweet because of the chemical present. Worst of it, the community was if right to put “compensated” with a stadium.

    Newmount Ghana Limited recently took over, vase land from Kenyasi, a farming community in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana and created settlement for the people of the community as a means of giving back to the community. Although provision was made by them to support food production in the community, consideration was not made as to how chemicals from the mines were going to affect (poison) the growth on food produced.

    Food prices are on the increase even in rural areas where food needs to be produced because lands are sold out for other projects rather than food cultivation, forcibly poisoning food produced on the piece of land left to cultivate, to have them ripe within the shortest possible time with chemicals such as cow bide, endangering human health (lives).

    Negative and self-centered Leadership type in the nation has affected national policing on foreign investment with respect to health and livelihood of countrymen. Leaders always seek to make names, much better to put “first to” rather than serve the nation so policies do not get effective, with instability of government. Each leader comes in with different policies on economic issues. Okyehene, is a positive leader who is much considered about environmental issues, standing firm as environmental king. That is a good example of positive leadership. Should all leaders be firm in their decisions on the use of their land and shirk their and like he did to the Okyeman in denial of the mining of his land, the country would be a better place.

    PART II

    Maame Adwoa Nyarko Mensah

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  4. Felling of timber and trees either legal or illegal, along water bodies are also drying up water bodies that could support economic, agricultural, etc activities but leaders look onto this whilst crops dies due to lack of water for irrigation.

    Wastes are swallowing cities, rubbers (polythenes) which can effectively produce fuel are being wasted, and they can neither decay nor rot. Worst of it, these wastes are burnt to expose dangerous gases to the environment, polluting the air breathed in causes outbreak of diseases. They could be recycled with other waste to produce biofuels. The use of polythenes in the homes to light coal pots is enough evidence to even illiterates that they are could serve as source of raw materials for fuel production; it saves money since kerosene is saved.

    Ministry of Energy is looking up to making a name negatively on citizens and positively on investors in its time rather than addressing the issue of recycling waste from industrial activities and agricultural for the production of biofuels.

    Ministry of Economic Planning should in his high economic academic background in collaboration with His Excellency Prof in economics “Prof Mills” in their statistics on foreign investment should strike the balance between total gains to loss made with respect to their activities and how much the government looses in importing food as compared the amount gained from exported minerals by the mining companies.

    PART III

    Maame Adwoa Nyarko Mensah

    ReplyDelete
  5. Felling of timber and trees either legal or illegal, along water bodies are also drying up water bodies that could support economic, agricultural, etc activities but leaders look onto this whilst crops dies due to lack of water for irrigation.

    Wastes are swallowing cities, rubbers (polythenes) which can effectively produce fuel are being wasted, and they can neither decay nor rot. Worst of it, these wastes are burnt to expose dangerous gases to the environment, polluting the air breathed in causes outbreak of diseases. They could be recycled with other waste to produce biofuels. The use of polythenes in the homes to light coal pots is enough evidence to even illiterates that they are could serve as source of raw materials for fuel production; it saves money since kerosene is saved.

    Ministry of Energy is looking up to making a name negatively on citizens and positively on investors in its time rather than addressing the issue of recycling waste from industrial activities and agricultural for the production of biofuels.

    Ministry of Economic Planning should in his high economic academic background in collaboration with His Excellency Prof in economics “Prof Mills” in their statistics on foreign investment should strike the balance between total gains to loss made with respect to their activities and how much the government looses in importing food as compared the amount gained from exported minerals by the mining companies.

    In Ghana, human rights on health and livelihood is less respected, with preference and noise made on violence and victimization. Is high time the Judiciary and “up and coming” students of the law schools make deliberate attempt to campaign on such rights.

    Although Ghana is not a war nation but if measures are not put in place to solve this, the nation would sought to importation in the near future.


    PART IV

    Maame Adwoa Nyarko Mensah

    ReplyDelete

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