Plastics on our soils is a direct threat to our farms
When my teacher from senior highschool raises the topic on the issue of plastic pollution in Ghana, the first thing that almost always comes into my mind is gutter pollution in Accra or our beaches covered in plastic bags.
There is actually another major threat building up beneath our feet in our agricultural lands. Mother nature gives us nutritious crops and especially in Ghana we're very blessed with good land. We get the cassava, the yam,and maize. If only we're wise and hardworking which a lot of the farmers are, we should not go hungry.
But I've seen this emerging challenge slowly stripping off the life giving properties of our soils and I wanted to use this chance to discuss it.
Farmers have resorted to using plastics sheets in order to prevent weed and to maintain moisture within the soils. This measure might look like it's ver helpful since it ensures quick crop growth. Unfortunately, these plastics are not biodegradable too. This means that they remain in the soil for so many years. These plastics sheets disintegrate into smaller microplastic particles which are quite difficult to notice, but they'll always remain in the soil.
You can just imagine what happens next right?
These little had to see fragments mix with the soil, preventing the water from penetrating down to the roots of the crops. On top of that, these plastics destroy the natural properties of the soil and the beneficial earthworms in the process.
The sheep and goats grazing on the farmlands may end up eating the toxic substances and when they start having health problems, you're confused as to why that's happening.
When we drink these plastic sachet water to cool ourselves down on a hot day, we usually throw away the empty sachets carelessly. I understood the importance of sanitation when I was 15 and I stopped doing that. But not everyone has understood it yet.
We cannot grow the food our communities need using toxic soils. The first step in solving this waste problem is our own responsibility. To stop ruining our environment and take it up ourselves to keep the lands clean.
We must have the discipline to refrain from disposing the plastics on our soils and start using natural materials like the dry grass to protect our crops.
If we really want the change, then the only way out of this problem is cleaning our farms now before we starve in the future.