Some farmlands in the Western region are facing the threat of extinction as developers seek vast tracts of land to build facilities to support the country’s emerging oil and gas industry.
The development also has implications for food production. The Ministry of Energy is said to have already acquired and agreed compensation for over a thousand acres of land on behalf of the private firm Arabian Oil Gulf Limited to set up an oil refinery at Agyam and Punpuni all in the Western region.
The affected farmers, in their hundreds in the Ahanta West District are expected to move in the next few months.
Joy FM reports there are concerns most of the farmers may abandon farming entirely once they receive their compensation. In the Jomoro District, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation is said to be in the process of acquiring a 5000 acre land for a gas processing plant. This is feared to further lead to the loss of farmlands.