Illegal small-scale mining, or galamsey, has been branded as one of Ghana’s gravest environmental and economic threats. Successive governments have promised action, task forces have been deployed, and billions of cedis lost in revenue have been reported. Yet a deeper crisis is unfolding beneath the surface: a nutrition emergency directly linked to the destruction caused by galamsey.

Across mining belts in the Western, Ashanti, and Eastern regions, rivers that once sustained farming and fishing are contaminated with mercury and cyanide. Farmers say irrigation is impossible; fishermen say their nets return empty. Independent studies confirm that mercury levels in some rivers exceed World Health Organisation guidelines. The result is a sharp reduction in safe food production and an erosion of the very foundation of Ghana’s nutritional security.

The figures are sobering. Nationally, one in five children under five is stunted. Nearly half of women of reproductive age are anaemic. Child wasting remains at emergency levels in some districts. The destruction of fertile land and poisoning of water through galamsey only compound these problems. In some mining-affected districts, local health authorities report higher rates of undernutrition and anaemia than the national average.

Economists estimate that malnutrition already costs Ghana up to 6.4 per cent of its GDP each year in lost productivity, poor educational outcomes, and higher health expenditures. With agriculture compromised by galamsey, the bill is rising. Food inflation is being felt in urban markets, while rural households in mining areas are forced to survive on monotonous diets that lack the nutrients needed for growth and development.

The accountability gap is glaring. Ghana committed at the 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit to invest $6 million annually in nutrition. Yet the same state resources continue to be drained by environmental damage, water treatment costs, and agricultural losses linked to galamsey. While authorities launch operations against illegal miners, enforcement remains inconsistent and politically fraught, raising questions about who benefits from the destruction.

Experts warn that without decisive action, galamsey will derail Ghana’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those on zero hunger, good health, and climate action. “Every river poisoned is a food system destroyed, and Ghana cannot achieve food security while watching our land vanish,” says Dr Charity Binka, Executive Director, WOMEC.

The evidence is clear: galamsey is not just an environmental crime. It is a public health emergency and a development crisis. Addressing it requires more than rhetoric; it requires enforcement, transparency, and the political will to confront vested interests. Unless this happens, Ghana risks trading its children’s nutrition and future productivity for short-term gains in gold.

We therefore demand the activation of permanent inter-agency galamsey response teams with prosecutorial authority independent of political interference and the establishment of a Galamsey Restoration Fund financed through penalties for river remediation and emergency nutrition interventions. We also call for the publication of quarterly malnutrition data disaggregated by mining-affected districts.

We join the call for amendments to the Minerals and Mining Act with a focus on mandating nutrition impact assessments with automatic permit suspension for violations, the resourcing of community water monitoring committees with testing kits, and the invitation of UN Special Rapporteurs to assess affected regions and provide independent recommendations.

We urge every citizen to demand that their MP publicly declare their enforcement plan and support stronger penalties, because the evidence is overwhelming and the solutions are known. Ghana’s rivers, farmlands, and children cannot wait for another empty promise.

Feature Article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition Project

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