Agricultural Issues
World Cocoa Foundation African Cocoa Initiative Will Benefit 100,000 Cocoa Farm Families
Bradenton Herald
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), the U.S. government's Feed the Future Initiative, and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) officially launched the WCF African Cocoa Initiative (WCF/ACI) today in a ceremony co-hosted with the Ghana Cocoa Board and key African stakeholders, including regional government officials and NGO partners. This Global Development Alliance partnership, supported by Feed the Future through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will improve cocoa farmer incomes, alleviate poverty, strengthen government and regional institutions, and advance food security in the cocoa-producing countries of Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria. Over the five-year term, the program will train 100,000 cocoa farmers and support their improved well-being and livelihoods.
Ghana Cannot Ignore Impact of Climate Change - UNDP
GhanaWeb
Mr. Jeremais Blaser, UNDP Deputy Country Director, has said "The increasing incidents of floods in the Northern, Eastern, Central and Volta regions with its devastating effect on life and property are clear demonstration of the fact that temperatures and rainfall patterns have changed with erratic climate in the country. He said, Ghana cannot ignore the impact of Climate Change any longer and called for a concerted holistic approach to deal with the problem. “As we look at the northern regions we are concerned that the combined impact of the drought and the floods can make the population even more vulnerable and their chances of making progress towards the MDGs even thinner."
Peasant Farmers Dread Reduction in Fertilizer Subsidies by Government
Myjoyonline.com
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana is raising red flags over what they say are government’s plans to reduce subsidies on fertilizers for small scale farmers this farming season. They fear if the government goes ahead with the planned subsidy reduction, the country’s efforts at ensuring food security will be rolled back. The president of the association, Mr. Mohammed Adam Nashiru said this at a Policy dialogue on fertilizer subsidy in Accra. He said even with the government subsidy, peasant farmers have often resorted to loans to be able to procure the essential farm input. Mr. Nashiru said any removal whether whole or part of the subsidy will be a retrogressive action especially at a time when fertilizer prizes are increasing on the international market
Ghana to Promote Improved Crop Variety
GhanaWeb
Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Mustapha Ahmed on Tuesday said despite strides that research has made in developing improved variety of crops it is imperative that genetic diversity is maintained for posterity. He said yam, sorghum, millet and cowpea are very important as far as food security is concerned not only in Ghana but in the sub region as a whole. Speaking at a Regional Consultative Workshop on Improving Linkages between Conservation and use of Food Crops in West Africa, he noted that it was for that matter that government attaches great importance to the project.
Food Crisis/Security
FAO Calls for an Additional Fund to Fight Famine
Ghana
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is calling for at least 69.8 million dollars in additional funding to provide assistance to 790,000 vulnerable farming and herding households. These are people who have been caught in a cycle of recurring food crises in the Sahel region. According to the Agency, several countries in the Sahel region of western Africa need urgent support to prevent a full-blown food and nutrition security crisis and to protect and restore livelihoods of communities dependent on livestock and crops. “At least 15 million people are estimated to be at risk of food insecurity in the Sahel, in part due to localized, but significant, declines in agro pastoral production. This includes 5.4 million people in the Niger (35 per cent of the population), three million in Mali (20 per cent), around 1.7 million in Burkina Faso (10 per cent), around 3.6 million in Chad (28 percent), 850 000 in Senegal (6 percent), 713 500 in the Gambia (37 per cent) and 700 000 in Mauritania (22 percent).”
Drought Could Become a Catastrophe for 13 Million if Action Not Taken
Some 13 million people are at severe risk from a food crisis, which is set to escalate into a full scale humanitarian emergency in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa if urgent action is not taken, international humanitarian organization Oxfam warned. Across Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and northern Senegal malnutrition rates hover between 10 and 15 percent, and in some areas, rates have risen beyond the emergency threshold level of 15 percent. Over one million children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.
Reports
Promoting Cassava as an Industrial Crop in Ghana: Effects on Soil Fertility and Farming System Sustainability
Applied and Environmental Soil Science. Research Article Volume 2012, Article ID 940954, 8 pages
Cassava is an important starchy staple crop in Ghana with per capita consumption of 152.9 kg/year. Besides being a staple food crop, cassava can be used as raw material for the production of industrial starch and ethanol. The potential of cassava as an industrial commercial crop has not been exploited to a large extent because of perceptions that cassava depletes soils. Recent finding from field studies in the forest/savannah transitional agroecological zone of Ghana indicates that when integrated in the cropping system as a form of rotation, cassava contributes significantly to maintenance of soil fertility, and thus large scale production of cassava for industrial use can contribute to poverty reduction in an environmentally responsive way. This paper discusses the role of cassava cultivation in soil fertility management and its implication for farming system sustainability and industrialization.
Keynote Paper: Strategic Repositioning of Agrobiodiversity in the Horticulture Sector for Sustainable Development in Africa
Agricultural Innovations for Sustainable Development.
The year 2010 was declared the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations to celebrate the diversity of plants and animals. Horticultural biodiversity that used to form an integral part of African diets should have been part of this celebration. However, with the introduction of exotic temperate crops, indigenous green vegetables lost popularity in Africa and started to be regarded as ‘weeds’ and ‘poor man’s food’. With over 50% of the African population living below the poverty line, resulting in malnutrition and poor health, there is a need for a paradigm shift in food production patterns to harness the nutrition and economic potential of indigenous vegetables and fruits.
Thank you
The articles included in this news digest have been generated from online news sources and the daily graphic newspaper published within last week. For more information on any of these articles, please contact Adwoa Kwarteng at A.Kwarteng@cgiar.org
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