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TheLawson et al: Petroleum find: Find: possible Its impact Possible on the agricultural Impact sector in on the Agricultural45 Sector in Ghana: The Role of Soil Science

I. Y. D. Lawson*, S. G. K. Adiku and S. K. A. Danso Department of Soil Science, School of , College of Basic and Applied Sciences, of Ghana, Legon, Accra *Corresponding author; E-: [email protected]

Abstract The opportunities the petroleum present comes with challenges that Ghana needs not to overlook. It is globally accepted that petroleum find is usually associated with the economic situation dubbed “Dutch disease”, whereby, the over-expectation of rewards from oil revenues diminish the attention paid to other sectors of the economy. The paper examines the potential impacts of the petroleum discovery in Ghana on its agricultural sector and the role of soil science in minimizing adverse effects. The agricultural sector is likely to lose its recognition as the backbone of the economy due to the discovery of petroleum in commercial quantities and having recently been overtaken by the sector. An impact of the oil find could be the high risk of the agricultural sector losing its potential labour force to the petroleum industry. There is also the fear of neglect of the agricultural sector in future similar to what happened in some countries that experienced petroleum boom. Oil spillage could pollute farmlands, and gas flaring without temperature or emission control could pollute the air and release unacceptably high levels of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. There could be resettlement of farming and farmlands because of the fear of spillage and destruction of lands by oil and gas operations. The petroleum find could also present the opportunities for the agricultural sector in that there would be improvement of infrastructure in the farming communities. Variety of items including and insecticides which play important roles in agricultural production can be manufactured from petroleum by- products. Soil science is the engine of agricultural land use and . For best benefit, the of farmers on the oil industry and management of oil contaminated soils is very paramount. Soil science units in the country need be involved in research on the dynamics of oil degradation, the isolation and identification of the most effective microorganisms for future as well as in the identification of soil conditioners from petroleum and its by-products for the improvement of soil properties.

Introduction National Petroleum Commission (GNPC), In the mid-1800s petroleum began to replace which established the whale oil in lamps. The first , in 1983, and given legal backing by two main specifically constructed to extract petroleum statutes (PNDC Laws 64 and 84). The fourth oil was drilled in 1859 when the American phase involved activities leading to oil pioneer E. L. Drake drilled a producing “Mahogany” discovery in which the well on Oil Creek in at a place following fields were found; Jubilee in 2007, which later became Titusville. In Ghana, the Tweneboa-Enyernra-Ntomme (TEN) initial oil exploration begun between 1896 between 2009 and 2012. Mahogany-Teak- and 1967 with focus on onshore. The second Akasa-Banda (MTAB) discovered between phase was shallow-water exploration which 2009 and 2011 and the most recent discovery occurred between 1968 and 1980. The third being the Sankofa-Gye-Nyame field, for phase saw the emergence of the Ghana which exploration and appraisal is on-

West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 22(2), 2014: 45–55. 46 West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 22(2): 2014 going. In the closing days of 2010, the 2011, when the country earned a total of country joined the league of oil producing 337.3 million US dollars from the first three countries when the Jubilee Oil Field officially liftings of 2,980,720 barrels of oil from the came on stream with the pumping of oil in Jubilee Fields there were also high demands commercial quantities in the Western Region. on the government to increase salaries of This Region is noted historically for the public workers under the “Single Spine” cultivation and production of rubber, cocoa, salary scheme. and of various kinds. For the past five decades agriculture had Though considered of great economic been the backbone of Ghana’s economy value, some ‘unpleasant’ consequences have because it was the leading contributing sector also been observed to be associated with oil to the country’s GDP and provided more finds the world over. In the 1960s, a crisis than 50% employment to the labour force. occurred in the Netherlands resulting from The agriculture sector has recently lost its the discoveries of vast deposits leading position to the service sector. With in the . The new found wealth this trend of event, coupled with the caused the Dutch Guilder to rise, making discovery and production of petroleum oil in exports of all non-oil products less large quantities, there is the fear of the competitive on the world market. In 1970s, agricultural sector being further relegated. a similar economic condition occurred in Over 2 billion tons of petroleum is Great Britain when the quadrupled produced annually worldwide and the and it became economically viable to drill National Academy of Sciences (2002) for oil in the North Sea off the coast of reported that over 1,300,000 tons of Scotland. By the late 1970s, Britain had petroleum are introduced into the natural become a net exporter of oil and no more a environment worldwide. One of the major net importer. The British Pound soared in environmental problems of today is value, but the country fell into crisis when (s) contamination resulting British workers demanded higher wages. This from the industry, accidental crisis was then termed the “Dutch Disease” and deliberate activities. According to which is accepted globally as the negative Nilanjana & Chandran (2011) accidental consequences arising from large increases in release of petroleum products is of particular a country’s income primarily associated with concern in the soil environment. The soil is a discovery. It can also an essential natural body that determines result from any large increase in foreign agricultural productivity and it is, therefore, currency in flow and, or earning, including of great concern when petroleum and its direct investment, foreign aid or a substantial products find their way into the soil increase in natural resource prices. environment. A continuous fall in the prices of some It is against this background that the paper major excluding oil and gold examines the possible impact of oil discovery has been observed in Ghana suggesting that on the agricultural sector, and the role of soil the country is on the verge of experiencing science in sustaining the sector in Ghana, in the Dutch Disease. In the third quarter of spite of the oil find. Lawson et al: Petroleum find: possible impact on the agricultural sector in Ghana 47

Fig.1. A map indicating Ghana’s offshore oil fields (Source: EPA, Ghana)

Impacts of oil on agriculture the national output of foodstuff also fell. This Contribution of agriculture to GDP situation is in contrast to in 1960 just According to Wikipedia (2009), countries after independence when the nation was which experienced and rise in their more or less sufficient in terms of food supply gross domestic products (GDP) shifted their whilst crops made up 97% of all revenues attention from the total agricultural output to from export. Ghana likewise stands a similar the booming oil industries. For example, since risk with the boom in the oil sector if the 1970, there was a steep drop in agricultural nation fails to strike a balance between the production in contrast to the rise in federal oil and the agricultural sectors. revenue from petroleum extraction in Nigeria According to the CIA World Factbook (Wikipedia, 2009). Although Nigeria had been (2012), the GDP growth rate of Ghana the world’s leading exporter of cocoa the between 1999 and 2010 was in the range of production of this cash crop dropped by 43%, 3.0–7.3% but in 2011 the growth rate with the production of other important increased to 13.6% and ranked fourth after income generators like rubber and cotton also Turmenistan, Mongolia and Qatar. This rapid plummeting between 1972 and 1983 increase could be attributed to the petroleum (Wikipedia, 2009). This decline in agricultural find because in the closing days of 2010 the production amid the oil boom was country joined the league of oil producing unfortunately not limited to cash crops but countries and oil was pumped in commercial 48 West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 22(2): 2014 quantities. The GDP composition in 2011 to a research by the World (2009) on stood at agriculture 28.3%, industry 21% and economy-wide impact of oil discovery, services 50.7%. The agricultural sector has Ghana’s agriculture could particularly be lost its position as the top contributor to GDP exposed to the “Dutch disease” consequence to the services sector. With the discovery during the oil boom period. As one of the and production of oil and gas in the country major treadable sectors, Ghanaian agriculture in commercial quantities and including the could particularly be exposed to the risk of oil and gas as a sector in the GDP losing external competitiveness through the composition, the percentage composition of real exchange rate appreciation which could agriculture could further decline drastically result in large mobility of labour force. A with regard to GDP growth rate. Although higher requirement of labour for the oil the and agricultural sectors industry would exert upward pressure on among many others of the economy have agricultural wages and reduce external been declining in the last few years competiveness of both import and export before the oil discovery, the situation has oriented agricultural sector. This could likely persisted and it is becoming even more increase prices of food and create shortage alarming. Besides, the Budget Statement and in food supply as the work force in agriculture the Government’s Economy Policy for the is being drifted away. 2012 financial year, the agricultural sector expanded only by 2.8% as against a targeted Fear of neglect of agricultural sector growth of 5.3%, a shortfall of 2.5%. For the There is fear of neglect of the agricultural agricultural sector to maintain or increase its sector in the future in the wake of oil and relative contribution there is the need to gas production. International experience drastically increase production to meet shows that competitiveness of agriculture is targeted growth. often undermined by natural resource discovery. Some countries that experience oil and gas boom often ignore agriculture, Job opportunities leading to decimation of an otherwise vibrant The discovery of oil and gas in commercial agricultural export sector leading to increase quantities in Ghana has resulted in a food import and increase in poverty. burgeoning and promising oil and gas industry. During the oil boom era in Nigeria, there This has inspired people because the was intensive exploration and export of petroleum industry offers attractive salaries petroleum and its products. The oil boom in and compensation packages to its workforce Nigeria led to neglect of its strong agriculture while there also appears to be a high demand and light manufacturing bases in favour of for opportunities in the emerging industry. an unhealthy dependency on oil for more This could lead to the migration of workforce, than 97% of export earnings and 80% federal usually the youth, from agricultural sector revenue. According to Sekumade (2009) due or rural areas in search of elusive jobs. to over dependency on oil, Nigeria is no Therefore, the country’s agriculture is at a longer a major exporter of cocoa, groundnut, high risk of losing its potential labour force rubber and palm products. Cocoa production to the urban areas and the oil sector. According mostly from obsolete varieties and over-aged Lawson et al: Petroleum find: possible impact on the agricultural sector in Ghana 49 trees is stagnant at around 150,000 tonnes biodiesel. This shift to support the energy annually, as opposed to 25 years ago when sector has stimulated new demand for production was 300,000 tonnes per annum particular crops, such as grains. In Ghana, (Sekumade, 2009). There has been a similar sometime ago the cultivation of the plant decline in groundnut, palm oil and the major jatropha (Jatropha curcas) for the export crops. The share of agricultural production of biodiesel and increase in oil products in total exports of Nigeria has palm plantation received appreciable plummeted from over 70% in 1960 to less attention. However, with the discovery of than 2% (Sekumade, 2009). The decline was petroleum in the country, there is the largely due to the phenomenal rise in oil likelihood of shifting from the production of shipments, but also reflected the fall in the biofuels from plants to the production of output of products like cocoa, palm oil, rubber fossil oil. and groundnuts of which Nigeria was once a With the discovery of oil in the country leading world producer (Sekumade, 2009). there is proliferation and introduction of Another serious form of neglect that courses in oil and gas into the educational Ghana’s agriculture has to reckon with is the curriculum. Graduates of these new courses drift of potential investors from the are highly needed in the oil sector at various agricultural sector to the oil sector, as the oil stages of oil exploration and production. This sector seems to be more promising with quick shift in knowledge dissemination could lead investment than the agriculture sector. The to neglect of courses in agriculture problem could even be compounded if the educational institutions. Stakeholders are agricultural sector fails to put in measures calling on government to assist educational that increase attractiveness and adopt institutions, especially , to offer pragmatic measures to reduce production professional training to students in oil and cost and increase farm output. Potential gas programmes. The government’s investors would prefer to invest their money commitment to assist educational institutions in more lucrative ventures which the oil with the needed resources to competently industry gives hope for. Large scale educate and train students in oil and gas agriculture and plantation farming which is courses is crucial if Ghanaians are to take at its infancy could collapse. The agricultural advantage of opportunities that abound in sector in the near future faces the threat of the oil and gas markets. The training would losing investors, and Ghana may have to help Ghanaians with the required expertise continue depending on peasant farmers to to meet the challenges of the industry and sustain the agricultural economy which is not effectively manage the sector. There is the conducive for Ghana, a country trying to need for the oil and gas industry to become attain a middle income status. more proactive in recruiting and training new As a result of increasing price and fear of engineers, , technicians and exhaustion of oil, a new attention would managers to address the personnel challenges expect agriculture to play a role in supporting of the industry. The government’s growth in energy demand through the commitment to assist in training through production of biofuels, such as ethanol and provision of the needed resources could shift 50 West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 22(2): 2014 attention from the agricultural sector, which Adedipe, 1991). Frequent crude oil spillage had been the backbone of the country’s on agricultural soil and the consequent fouling economy before the discovery of petroleum. effect on all forms of life render the soil (especially the biological active surface layer) Impacts on agricultural soils and unproductive. The oil reduces the soil environment fertility such that most of the essential The demand for petroleum as a source of nutrients are no longer available for crop and energy and as a primary for plant utilization (Abi & Nwosu, 2009). chemical industries in recent years has Beyond 3% concentration, oil has been resulted in an increase in world production. reported to be increasingly deleterious to soil This dramatic increase in production, refining biota and crop growth (Baker,1976; Amadi and of crude oil has brought with et al.,1993; Osuji et al., 2005). it an ever increasing problem of global On December 26, 2009, Ghana environmental (Atlas & Barther, experienced its first spillage of about 584 1992; Plohl et al., 2002). The whole world, barrels of low-based mud fluid and especially the petroleum oil producing the second mud spill of seven barrels countries, are vulnerable to oil spills due to occurred on March 23, 2010 (Daily Graphic, the large volume of petroleum oil and its 2010). This frequency of spillage in the products transported from the producing end drilling field is of great concern. Offshore oil to the consumer end. For example, in the spillage is usually associated with the oil and of Nigeria alone, there have been gas industry. Spillage affects aquatic life such over 550 reported cases of crude oil spillage as sea birds, fishes, planktons, and this may since 1976, releasing about 2.8 million barrels affect the whole food chain through a process of crude oil into the environment. Petroleum called bioaccumulation. For example, the products contamination has been further Valdez spill killed as many as 300 compounded by sabotage and vandalization harbour seals, 900 bald eagles, 2,800 sea of pipelines in restive communities, oysters and 250,000 sea birds. Fishermen particularly in the Niger Delta region of may not be able to fish when there is an oil Nigeria. In 2010, the oil leak by the British spill, and this would affect their income oil giant, British Petroleum (BP), in the Gulf levels. of Mexico in the has been Gas flaring without temperature or described by the environmental experts as emission control pollutes the air and releases the worst in history. unacceptably high levels of carbon monoxide Several properties of agricultural soils are and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere adversely affected by oil spills. These include (Hurtig & Sebastian, 2002). High levels of the loss of soil organic matter, leaching of carbon dioxide are also emitted from seismic nutrients, loss of the nutrient-laden top soil, vessels and drilling rigs. These gases are changes in soil pH, reduction in cation greenhouse gases that contribute to global exchange capacity, salinization, water , warming and environmental acidification. and other forms of soil degradation are major The potential future effects on global climate problems associated with agricultural change include shift of plant and animal productivity in oil processing areas(Aina & ranges, trees and plants flowering sooner to Lawson et al: Petroleum find: possible impact on the agricultural sector in Ghana 51 produce low quality fruits, more frequent documented in the work of Baanante et al. wildfires, longer periods of drought in some (1999) that agricultural systems in regions, increase in number, duration and depend as much on the efforts of women as intensity of tropical storms resulting in they do on the efforts of men. However, flooding and destruction to structures. men are more likely to be cash crop farmers, According to NASA (2012), between 75 and with food crop farmers usually being the 250 million people in Africa are projected to poorest in our societies (Darkwah, 2005). be exposed to increased water stress, yields Forced resettlements which jeopardize the from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced livelihoods of women and food crop farmers, up to 50% in some regions by 2020, and put undue strain on them and their families agricultural production including access to as they struggle to develop alternative food may be severely compromised. livelihood practices to fend for their already Potential terrestrial impacts may result cash-strapped families. A similar situation from poor and of could hit Ghanaian farmers around the entire facilities. Impacts such as soil erosion and oil basin along the coast of Ghana. vegetation removal could lead to low soil productivity. Currently, large areas of Positive impacts on agriculture farmlands in the Western Region have been Despite the many negative effects of oil acquired for the construction of facilities find on agriculture, there are several indirect meant for gas storage and processing. In benefits. According to ANWR (2012), a time, technical faults resulting in release of variety of items can be manufactured from gas into the environment could result in fire petroleum by-products. Among these items, outbreaks and destruction of vegetation, and the manufacture of fertilizers and insecticides risk to life and property would be of play an important role in farming. Most paramount concern. tropical soils have poor soil fertility and the availability of fertilizers at affordable prices Resettlement of farming communities and and utilization would increase agricultural farmlands production. The infestation of farms by The discoveries of petroleum in areas insects is one of the factors responsible for where farming communities and farmlands low agricultural productivity in the tropics. are located are usually associated with The use of insecticides at affordable prices resettlement because of fear of spillage and to control insects would also increase destruction to oil and gas operations. For agricultural production. Other products instance, in Sudan thousands of people were include tractor tyres, farm gears, soil forcefully evicted to make way for a low- conditioners and food preservatives. sulphur crude oil venture in south-central Ghana’s oil economy presents an Sudan. Through this forced eviction, the unparalleled opportunity for the agricultural people of this lost venerated sector and for improvement of infrastructure. ancestral homes, died from contamination, The concern to the agriculture sector is the with livelihoods being jeopardized. extension of electricity to the various farming Agriculture is the mainstay of a substantial communities in the remote areas. Most of number of African families. It has been the farming communities in Ghana are 52 West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 22(2): 2014 without electricity. It is believed that the As mentioned earlier, since soil science is revenue generated from the oil industry the engine of agricultural land use and could be used to extend power supply management it would be appropriate to to these farming communities. This could educate farmers on the discovery of oil and also help to reduce the rural urban their perception of farmland contamination migration which reduces the agriculture through oil spillage and other issues related labour force. to the oil industry. The perception of farmers on contamination is important when it comes Most Ghanaian farming communities lack to education and introduction of good and accessible to their for remediating contaminated soils. It is in farm produce from the farms to the market this vein that a field survey was conducted places and urban areas. This often results in by the Department of Soil Science of the great losses to the farmers as they cannot University of Ghana to collate information transport perishable such as tomatoes on farmers’ perception on petroleum to the consumers on time. Revenue generated product(s) contamination of farmlands using from the oil industry could be used to structured questionnaires in Greater Accra, establish agro-based processing plants and Volta and Central regions (Lawson et al., storage facilities to add value to the primary unpublished). Results indicated that 85% of goods so that they can sell better. Absence farmers were aware of the discovery of of such facilities means that farmers always petroleum in the country and about 38% of have to sell the raw produce without adding the farmers were not aware that petroleum value to them. The revenue generated could product(s) could contaminate their farmlands. also be used to construct schools and There is the need, therefore, to educate , improve water supply and sanitation the public, more especially the farmers, on in the farming communities because these social amenities are very important for the impact of oil and gas on agriculture and livelihood of farmers. the environment. Lack of information on the oil and gas industry could lead to farmers The role of soil science and other human resources from the farming The environmental concerns as a communities drifting into the oil sector. consequence of industrialization was a major Education could start from the basic schools focus of the Department of Soil Science of to the tertiary level, and of the University of Ghana, Legon, in the early workshops for farmers and farmer-based . Following several discussions, a new in order to create awareness post-graduate programme, namely “Environ- on this new industry and the management of mental Soil Science” was introduced into the oil contaminated soils. This is where soil Soil Science curriculum in 2003. The science education would play a major role in spectrum of the programme includes the dissemination of information to schools domestic , soil pollution and and farmers in the various farming remediation, issues related to communities. emissions, , among others. The With respect to oil spills, Soil Science impact of oil spills on soil quality has received Department of the University of Ghana has major attention. started research on petroleum and its Lawson et al: Petroleum find: possible impact on the agricultural sector in Ghana 53 product(s) in the soil environment. In the microbes, especially bacteria, associated first research work, Lawson et al. (2012) with the soils used in the study. Lawson et reported that Ghanaian soils sampled from al. (2013) isolated six the forest, northern savanna and coastal utilizing bacterial genera, Bacillus, savanna ecological zones showed signs of Staphylococcus, Enterobacter, Yersinia, containing hydrocarbon utilizing microbes Proteus, and Alcaligenes; the dominant and had the potential to degrade diesel oil genus was Bacillus. The study clearly (Fig. 2). The forest soils degraded more indicated that Ghanaian soils contain diverse diesel oil than the savanna soils. The main bacterial genera capable of degrading and factors responsible for differences in utilizing diesel oil as carbon source. degrading abilities of these soils were These microbes can, therefore, be used as hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria population, inocula for bioremediation. Other ongoing availability of organic carbon, nitrogen and research activities include degradation of oil . Apart from these nutrients, the under different land use management; added advantage that the forest soils had over physiochemical properties and microbial the savanna soils was the high number of populations in soils at garages and engine hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria. depots; using nitrogen and phosphorus to This preliminary study, therefore, stimulate the microbial degradation of diesel provides the awareness for the oil contaminated soil; using biochar from identification of the hydrocarbon utilizing agricultural wastes to remediate oil

Incubation Period (days)

Fig. 2. Amount of diesel oil degraded in four soil series soils (Lawson et al., 2012) 54 West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 22(2): 2014 contaminated acid soils. The information service and oil sectors as far as contribution from these present and future research to GDP is concerned, the loss of its potential activities could be used in bioremediation of labour force to the oil sector, potential neglect oil contaminated soils. of the sector, pollution of farmlands, Extensive research could be undertaken resettlement of farming communities and by soil scientists to discover the potential of farmlands and infrastructure development in by-products of the oil and gas production. A the farming areas. For proper agricultural land research area that could be of interest is the use and management, soil science education, manufacture of soil conditioners; these research on oil and its spillage in the soil conditioners could be added to oil environment, and development of new soil contaminated soils to improve soil quality, conditioners from by-products of petroleum especially in the provision of nutrients, are very important. improvement of cation exchange capacity, water retention, and soil structure. Soil References conditioners include a wide variety of Abi T. A. and Nwosu P. C. (2009). The effect of oil materials, among which are hydroabsorbant spillage on soil of Eleme in Rivers State of the Niger polymers. The soil scientist could take Delta Area of Nigeria. Research Journal of advantage of the polymers found in Experimental Science 3: 316–320. Aina E. O. A and Adedipe N. O. (eds) (1991). The petroleum to design chemical structures from making of the Nigerian environmental policy. the by-products for manufacturers to come Federal Environmental Protection Agency, Lagos. out with high quality soil conditioners to 329 pp. improve soil quality. The soil scientist could Amadi A, Dickson A. and Maate G. O. (1993). also assist in the testing, both laboratory and Remediation of oil polluted soil; 1 Effect of organic in the field, of the newly developed soil and inorganic nutrient supplements on the conditioners before they are made available performance of maize (Zea may L.). Water Air Soil Pollution 66: 59–76. commercially on local and international ANWR (2012). Products made from oil. http:// markets. A product discussed earlier that can www.anwr.org/features/oiluses.htm. be obtained from petroleum by-product is Atlas R. M. and Barther J. (1992). Microbial ecol- . The various forms of fertilizer that ogy: fundamentals and applications, 4th edn. can be developed could be tested in the Benjamin/Cummings , Menlo Park, Calif. different types of soils under the different Baanante C., Thomas P., Thompson K. and agro-ecological zones, and then recommend Acheampong K. (1999). Labour Contributions of Women to Crop Production Activities in Three the appropriate application rates and Regions of West Africa: An Analysis of Farm Survey management practices to farmers in the Data. Research Review 15 (1): 80–100. country’s agro-ecological zones for increased Baker J. M. (1976). Marine Ecology and Oil agricultural production. Polution. Applied Science Publishers Ltd. Essex England. pp. 483–536. Conclusion CIA World Factbook (CWF) (2012). Graphic Com- The impact of Ghana’s petroleum find on munication Ltd., Accra. the agriculture sector and the role that soil Daily Graphic (2010). Low toxicity oil-based mud discharge Wed, 19th May, 2010. p 1-3 science can play were examined. The Darkwah A. K. (2005). Poverty Trends in Ghana over influence of the oil find on the agricultural the Last Fifteen Years. Legon Journal of Sociology sector includes losing its current position to 2(1): 81–100.

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