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SALT PRODUCTION IN GHANA: METHODS AND PRACTICES
Article · December 2013
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SALT PRODUCTION IN GHANA:
METHODS AND PRACTICES
BY
Andy Quashie
Mawuena Aggey
SALT UNIT
CSIR-INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH
P. O. BOX LG 576
LEGON - GHANA
Salt or common salt as it called, has as its most important chemical compound sodium
chloride. Salt is a readily available, inexpensive bulk commodity and a basic requirement for
all life. Sodium chloride, as a compound, must be the largest component of dissolved solids
found in a source of brine to make it appropriate for the purposes of salt production. All salt
production methods are therefore designed to increase the percentage of sodium chloride
in the final product using the most sustainable, efficient and effective techniques available.
The pattern of use, though, varies from high chemical applications in industrialized
countries to prevalent use in food and agriculture in less developed countries. Salt has no
cheap economic substitutes. In Ghana, a tropical country, salt is of vital importance for food
preservation, especially in rural areas, where it constitutes the only means of preservation.
Salt can be classified by the four methods used for its production:

Rock salt mining (rock salt),

Solar evaporation (solar salt)

Vacuum evaporation (vacuum salt)

Salt in brine1 (solution mined brine)
Ghana’s geographical location, climatic and meteorological conditions are suitable for solar
salt production. A narrow strip of grassy and scrubby coast runs from a point near Takoradi
in the west to the Togo border in the east. This coastal savanna, only about eight kilometres
in width at its western end, stretches eastward through the Accra Plains, where it widens to
more than eighty kilometres, and terminates at the south-eastern corner of the country at
the lower end of the Akwapim-Togo Ranges. This area is most suitable for salt production
and all salt producing units are located in this zone.
Three salt production methods have been identified in the country. These are:
1. Salt Winning
2. Artisanal Solar Salt Production
3. Modern Solar Salt production
In terms of number of people involved in the various methods of production, the highest
number, estimated to be 5,000, are involved in Salt Winning. The Artisanal Solar Salt
producers number about 300, creating jobs for about 3 times that number. Companies using
1
For solution-mined brine that is typically used as a feedstock for chemical production.
the Modern Solar Salt production method number about 30, employing an estimated 2,000
people, excluding management.
Geo-membranes popularly called plastic or rubber sheets for use in the lining of crystallizers
have been introduced for use in salt works in Ghana. Its use is spreading very fast due to the
perceived advantages such as initial lower cost, speed and ease of installation. But problems
of its use such as the delicate nature of the membrane and shorter lifespan are being
identified.
Use of brushes in salt production is wide-spread. Brushing is done mainly in salt works to
remove precipitates which result from the introduction of low salinity brine into the
crystallizers.
Some issues militating against the growth of the salt industry have been identified as
concerning the production technology, materials of construction, availability of operational
tools and packaging used for the product.
In conclusion, it is recommended that since the industry is indigenous and plays a critical
role in the economy especially of the rural poor, the production methods be studied
critically and attempts made to optimise the methods based on the country’s current
engineering and industrial standard and growth to make the production methods
sustainable.
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