Land Grabs in Ghana Force Hundreds Off Farms

Dozens of farmers in northern Ghana claim they have been forced off their land with no alternative source of income after a multinational firm bought their farms to cultivate jetropha, a non-food crop whose seeds contain oil used to produce bio fuel.

Bio fuel Africa Ltd has acquired over 23,700 hectares of Ghanaian land forcing out the inhabitants of seven villages – all of them farming communities — in Tamale district.

Farmer Mumud Alhassan Adam, 50-year-old father of five, lost his eight-hectare plot on which he cultivated maize and rice.

"I went to the farm one day but I realized somebody else was on the farm and then I was told the land had been sold off. Since then I have not been allowed to farm."

Local chiefs own most of the land in northern Ghana and rent it out to farmers or sell it to anybody who wishes to buy.

"There was no consultation with us (farmers) before the land was sold and I have not been paid any compensation since I was displaced," Adam told IRIN.

He added: "A few of the farmers were offered employment on the jatropha plantation but many others were left with hunger and no source of income, while others like myself had to raise money to rent another plot of land several kilometers away. It has been a very difficult time for my family."

But Bio Fuel Africa’s chief executive officer Steinar Kolnes said the company offered the farmers options: "We don’t pay compensation…We gave the farmers two options: To stay and farm their crops alongside the jetropha or leave to other more fertile lands we had provided for them." He said those who chose to leave were given plots up to 10 times the size of their previous plots.

Adam said he knew of no farmers living in the area who have been given alternative land to farm.

Many farmers are trying to make the best of the change, rather than fighting for their land back. "If I get a job with any of these firms I will abandon crop cultivation and join them. And many of my colleagues would do the same," John Akerebo, a farmer in the region, told IRIN.

 

Source: Allafrica

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