7 September 2009
Accra — 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 biofuel.
Biofuel 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 sourceof 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."
Curt Carnemark/World Bank
Farmers in Ghana.
But BioFuel 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.
Over 20 companies from around the world, including from Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Norway, are acquiring land in Ghana to produce biofuels, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Between 15 million and 20 million hectares of farmland around the world have been subject to biofuels negotiations since 2006, according to the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Kwadwo Poku, a local consultant for several of the multinationals with business in Ghana, told IRIN: "With so much land uncultivated [in Ghana], these firms are doing this country a favour by...employing many more farmers."
In a communiqué on its website, BioFuel Africa says only 10 percent of the land in question was being cultivated for food crops and that its project is providing farmers with much-needed employment during the lean season.
The Agriculture Ministry estimates that just 16 percent of Ghana's arable land is cultivated, despite agriculture employing 60 percent of the country's workforce.
Multinationals are attracted to Ghana by the land availability, soil types and a lack of regulation on acquisitions, according to the Food Security Policy Advocacy Network (FoodSPAN), based in the capital Accra.
But David Eli, FoodSPAN chairman, said the growing practice of carving up cultivable land for biofuel production could worsen Ghana's food insecurity. "As a country we don't produce enough food to feed everybody so if the argument is that we have enough land then why don't we invest to cultivate that land for food crops?"
UP to 1.2 million Ghanaians are food insecure, according to the World Food Programme's latest estimates, 453,000 of them in Northern Region. The government is drafting a US$10-million national food security plan, according to Agriculture Ministry director Nurah Gyiele.
The government has recognized the need for more clarity on the rights of farmers and companies in land deals concerning biofuels, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, and has called on the government's Energy Commission to draft legislation on land acquisitions.
Head of the Agriculture Workers Union, Kingsley Ofei Nkansah, said the legislation, which is currently being developed, must ensure that biofuels cultivation be limited to marginal lands; that all acquisitions include compensation for farmers and that chiefs prioritize land for food crop cultivation over biofuels.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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One of my recent posts on the New Security Beat blog deals with land-grabbing and food security in Africa.
A number of relatively wealthy but land- and water-strapped nations, including Saudi Arabia, China, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as many corporations and other investors, have purchased millions of hectares of land in other developing countries. Asia and South America have been targeted by some, but the inexpensive, fertile land of impoverished Africa appears to be the primary prize.
While some might praise the transfer of land to those with the capital and technology to make it productive, questions abound when one considers the dual pressures of population growth and a changing climate. "[W]hat happens with famine strikes these countries? Will the wealthy foreigners install electric fences around their fields, and will armed guards escort crop shipments out of the country?" ask Horand Knaup and Juliane von Mittelstaedt in a recent article in Der Speigel (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/31/african_farmland/index.html).
In completing these transactions, governments often ignore customary land tenure, selling tracts that are already inhabited and cultivated by small-scale subsistence farmers whose families have lived on the land for generations, but who have no formal deed of ownership. This seems to be exactly what is happening in Ghana.
To prevent such exploitation, experts have suggested the adoption of international rules to govern foreign acquisition of agricultural land in the developing world. A report from the International Food Policy Research Institute recommends a broad swath of measures to ensure transparency, respect for existing land rights, benefit-sharing, environmental sustainability, and adherence to national trade policies (http://www.ifpri.org/publication/land-grabbing-foreign-investors-developin g-countries).
For the full post, visit: http://newsecuritybeat.blogspot.com/2009/08/focus-on-food-security-as-clint on-lands.html.
[Daniel 11:14 ]] And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south(AMERICA / BABYLON ): ALSO the ROBBERS OF OUR PEOPLE shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; BUT THEY SHALL FALL !
* 16 European Nations . Met And Plotted On How They Would Rob Africa Of Its Riches.
* They met during two(2) Periods of time in two(2) places
* The General Act Of Berlin Conference (Nov, 1884 to February, 1885)
* Brussels Belgium to finalize SECRET agreements ( Nov, 1889 to July 1890)
* The Book “King Leopold’s Ghost (1998) by Adam Hochschild documents some of This information.
The following Nations (Households) - Planned how they would divide among themselves our AFRICAN Riches.
1) Austria-Hungary - Francis Joseph I Charles - August 18, 1830 -
2) Belgium - King Leopold II – April 9, 1835
3) Denmark - Frederik VIII -June 3, 1843
4) France - Marie François Sadi Carnot – August 11, 1837 -
5) Germany - Wilhelm II -– January 27, 1859
6) Great Britain - Queen Victoria (Hanover) – May 24, 1819 – British Ruler – 2nd
7) Holland –William III – February 19, 1817
8) Italy - Umberto I - March 14, 1844 -
9) Norway - Oscar II [Oscar Frederik] – January 21, 1829 (Also Sweden)
10) Portugal - Carlos I – September 28, 1863
11) Russia - Alexander III Alexandrovich – March 10, 1845
12) Spain - Alfonso XIII – May 17, 1886
13) Sweden - Oscar II – January 21, 1829 (Also Norway)
14) Turkey - Abdülhamid II, - September 2 or September 22 - 1842 -
15) United States - Benjamin Harrison – August 20, 1833 -
16) Persia (Iran) - Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar – July 16, 1831 –
For centuries Black Africans have been exploited and exploited in the name of Islam. Then with the coming of the Portueses (so-called Christians) to Ghana around the 1440s , the so-called Christians started their exploitation.
The Black Athena (Part1) [ Spiritual Reparations ] URL – [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4maNtzhL9Q ]
FRITZ SPRINGMEIER A Bold Christian Truthseeker The Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k73Q2_f4vKU ]
We Black Africans are puzzling. We have a bounty of riches around us, yet we persist in allowing outsiders to steal them; while we fight each other over trivial matters.
Just in case you're wondering, here's some Black Africans who have done wondrous things to change the way we live in the world.
For example : Garrett-Augustus Morgan invented the Traffic Signal to CURB (no pun intended) TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS !!!
* Buridge & Marshman - TYPEWRITER
* George Carruthers - X-RAY MACHINE
* George Washington Carver - PEANUT BUTTER - PAINTS – PAINT STAINS – ETC
* W.A. Dietz - SHOE
* Charles R. Drew - BLOOD PLASMA STORAGE SYSTEM
* Michael Harney - LANTERN
* Augustus Jackson - ICE CREAM
* H.A. Jackson - KITCHEN TABLE
* Isaac R. Johnson - BICYCLE FRAME
* John A. Johnson - WRENCH
* Frederick M. Jones - DEFROSTER - REFRIGERATION CONTROLS – AIR CONDITIONER
* Jones & Long - BOTTLE CAPS
* Lewis Latimer & Nichols - ELECTIC LAMP
* John L. Love - PENCIL SHARPENER
* Tony J. Marshall - FIRE EXTINGUISHER
* Alexander Miles - ELEVATOR
* W.A. Martin - LOCK
* Garrett A. Morgan - GAS MASK - Traffic Signal
* Lydia Newman - HAIR BRUSH - Nov 15, 1898
* W.B. Purvis - FOUNTAIN PEN
* L.P. Ray - DUST PAN
* W.H. Richardson - BABY BUGGY
* G.T. Sampson - CLOTHES DRYER
* .W. Smith - LAWN SPRINKLER
* J. Standard - REFRIGERATOR
* T.W. Stewart - MOP
* Maxine Snowden - RAIN HAT - 1983
* Paul E. Williams - HELICOPTER
* Granville T. Woods - Roller Coaster
* Granville T. Woods - Telegraph Transmission Devices - Dec 2, 1884 Patents # - 308, 816 (7)
Thanks to The Black Inventors Museum P.O. Box 76128 Los Angeles , Calif. (90076) Phone (310) 859-4602)
Director : Ghanaian Mr. Hamza Salifa
Contributor of Information : SEESTAH Imahkus Nzinga Okofo [http://www.oneafricaghana.com/first_and_foremost.htm ]
The Swine Flu Vaccination Hoax - Explained URL – [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbFxV_C8Yw4 ]
[Check Out :
3) Who Brought The Slaves To America ? URL = [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuzhnKy63io ] Or [http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=911]
WAKE UP !!! STAY UP !!!
[ libradio.net ]
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx]
[gcnlive.com]
Life Is A Game. Have Fun . Luke 18:17 - Isaiah 11:6
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO INSANITY. Just what the doctor prescribed...sell off your lands, displace the people, dont support your farmers, dont utilise your God given natural resources and boost agriculture.
Let your rice paddies go to waste and allow your Tomatoes to rot. Ignore all your farmers needs and do not boost your Agro Sector but open wide your gates of Sodom and allow the wisemen to enter. And when they are done giving you mere pittance for your land and converted it into feilds of gold for their coffers, you can always turn round with begging bowls in your hands and cry for AID. Amen!
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO INSANITY. Just what the doctor prescribed...sell off your lands, displace your farmers and allow your rice paddies to dry out and your tomatoes to rot. Ignore your farmers and do not support your Agro sector to create a boom.
Open the gates of your Sodom and allow the Wisemen from the West to enter so they could sow their feilds of gold and reap their harvest and fill their coffers. And if you find yourself swamped by vegetation unknown and got less food to eat, take your begging bowls in hand and point West again for AID.
There is definitely something in the water dowbn in Africa. It gives us CHRONIC DEVELOPMENTAL BLINDNESS. The scramble and partitioning for land has come back to haunt us again. This time it is not called COLONIZATION AND OCCUPATION. We are selling off anything from land to oil to gold. Funny how we never see the advantages of these things to utilise them ourselves but always get people racing from afar to grab them.
If the crop can grow in Ghana and has such importance for Bio-fuels why not help the farmers to grow it instead and sell it to those who need it and help them better their lives in the process.
Ouch! Don't recolonize your land this way! Produce biofuel for the home market, and tell the export market goodbye. Your nation will get very little benefit from what is produced for export on foreign-owned land in your nation. A few of you will get jobs. The rest will be dispossessed. Hang on to your land, it is worth more than money.