Nana Kweku Agyemang, CEO of Hempire Association of Ghana, has stated that the cultivation of cannabis for industrial use will aid in removing all the toxins that illicit small-scale miners (Galamseyers) have left behind on farmlands.
According to Nana Agyemang, such fields would eventually become chemical-free, allowing farmers to once again cultivate their crops there. Additionally, he included that growing cannabis next to waterways will clean the rivers and restore the residential use of such waterbodies.
He also encourage that all Ghanaians should celebrate and not only entrepreneurs, since the nation has succeeded and deserves to be recognized for this great achievement. He underlined that the government should focus on creating tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs around the nation, as this is what the country urgently needs.
“We have graduates who are leaving the universities and they are being told there are no jobs for them, that they should go and fend for themselves. But the establishment of this industry is something that could pull in their resources and the knowledge they have learned in the universities.
“It is also great for the economy because now the government of Ghana can have something, whereby they will generate revenue internally from the taxes. If you look at other countries and what those governments have been making from the taxes alone, it has been huge…Humongous!”
Nana Kweku Agyemang
According to Nana Agyemang, the government is struggling to deal with galamsey, while farmers sit in their corners to observe fields that could be sold for money but because such lands are currently poisoned with mercury and other hazardous materials, it is of no use. As a result, he claimed that the production of cannabis is good for the environment as it would benefit farmlands that have already been destroyed.
“Well, I wish to inform you that when we cultivate industrial hemp on that land, those lands would be reclaimed because the industrial cannabis will absorb all the toxins over a period of time. And the farmers will be able to go back to those farmlands and start cultivating high-value crops.
“The same is true with our water bodies. The cultivation of industrial cannabis in those water bodies and the banks will clean up those water bodies, so that we can return to them and use them in our everyday day domestic lives.
Nana Kweku Agyemang
Per Nana Kweku Agyemang’s knowledge, the oil produced from cannabis when commercial growing begins in Ghana, will assist medical professionals in permanently resolving the epilepsy issue.
Prior to that, Parliament Speaker Alban Bagbin had stated that Ghana was losing millions of dollars due to the lack of a cannabis cultivation permit, so he believes it is a great move in the right direction.
Economic And Medicinal Impact Of Cannabis Must Be Explored
Ambrose Dery, the Interior Minister and the Member of Parliament for Nandom, stated that the growing of cannabis for particular uses, is a good business.
In order to ensure that Ghana does not lose out on the plant’s commercial, industrial, and therapeutic potential, he urged for the development of specific cannabis strains.
He added that Ghana “will not miss the industrial value of it,…will not miss the medicinal value of it, and the economic value of it.”
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