Nutrition
Galamsey and Nutrition: Counting the real cost of Ghana’s gold rush
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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Kaklo is the common street snack that turns overripe plantain into pure gold.
Kaklo is best eaten fresh off the fire. Crispy outside, soft and sweet inside, with a kick of ginger and pepper.
Mostly, found at bus stop from Accra.
Ingredients
– 4 ripped plantain
– 1 onion finely grated
– 1/2 tablespoonful of grated fresh ginger
– 1 tablespoonful dried powdered pepper
– ½ tablespoonful of fresh scotch bonnet, finely chopped
– Salt to taste
– ¼ cup corn flour
– Oil for deep frying
Preparation
-Peel the overripe plantains and place in a bowl.
– Mash thoroughly with a fork or your fingers until smooth.
– Add grated onion, ginger, pepper, and salt to the mashed plantain. Mix well.
-Sprinkle in the corn flour and stir until the batter holds together (It should be thick and scoopable, not watery. If too soft, add a little more flour).
-Pour oil into a deep pan or skillet to about 2 inches deep. Heat on medium until a small drop of batter sizzles and rises immediately. If using palm oil, don’t let it smoke.
– Using a tablespoon, scoop batter and gently drop into the hot oil. Don’t crowd the pan.
-Fry 2–3 minutes per side until deep golden brown and crisp.
– Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper or in a colander. Serve hot.
Cook’s Notes
– Plantain test: If it’s not sweet and soft enough, your kaklo will taste bland. The skin must be black and the flesh very soft.
– No blender: Traditionally, kaklo is mashed by hand. Blending makes it too smooth and it absorbs more oil.
– Serve with: Fresh ground pepper, shito, or a handful of roasted groundnuts. Perfect with a chilled bottle of sobolo or ice water.
By Theresa Tsetse
When nutrition challenges among Ghanaian women are discussed, anaemia and obesity often dominate the conversation.
These are real and serious concerns. But there are two other deficiencies, folate and vitamin B12, quietly causing harm to women and their unborn children. They are less visible, less talked about, and yet their impact begins early, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
Some studies suggest that about 68 per cent of women may have low vitamin B12 levels, folate deficiency affects a significant share of women of childbearing age, and many women do not meet recommended dietary intake levels for these nutrients.
Diet plays a major role. In many households, meals are largely carbohydrate-based, with limited intake of animal-source foods and micronutrient-rich options. Over time, this can lead to multiple nutrient deficiencies including iron, folate, and vitamin B12, occurring together. Low intake of iron, vitamin B12, and folate together puts women at heightened risk of giving birth to low birth weight babies or, in the worst cases, stillbirths.
These gaps often go unnoticed because they do not always show immediate symptoms, but their consequences can be serious.
Folate is essential for the healthy formation of a baby’s neural tube, the structure that develops into the brain and spinal cord, in the very first weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant. When folate levels are insufficient during this critical window, the risk of neural tube defects rises significantly. These are severe birth conditions, many of which are fatal or cause lifelong disability. Vitamin B12 deficiency compounds this risk further, as the two nutrients work together in the body’s most fundamental cell processes.
Despite their importance, folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies receive limited attention in public health messaging and programmes.
Women need to know about these nutrients before they become pregnant, not after. This requires preconception nutrition counselling, targeted supplementation programmes, fortification of staple foods, and education campaigns that reach women in communities, markets, and health facilities.
Ghana has had a mandatory wheat flour fortification policy with iron and folic acid since 2007, but enforcement and coverage remain inconsistent, and the policy does not address vitamin B12. Expanding fortification to include B12 and strengthening compliance monitoring would be important steps forward.
Leaders across health, education, and agriculture must place these ‘hidden’ deficiencies on the national nutrition agenda, because the damage they cause is anything but hidden to the families who experience it.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
