Agricultural News
Use of Quality Seed Among Farmers in UWR is very Low – SARI
Vibe Ghana
Dr. Saaka Buah, an Agronomist at the Wa Station of the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) has observed that the use of new improved quality seed among farmers in the Upper West Region is very low. Dr. Buah who is also the Coordinator of the Research Extension Farmer Linkage Committee (RELC) for the Region said the reason for the low patronage of new improved quality seed among these farmers was that they considered it an expensive venture to go in for. This, according to the Agronomist, was a misconception because it constituted less than five per cent of the total cost of production. Dr. Buah made the observation while delivering a presentation on the importance of improved seeds and sources of seeds in Ghana during a two-day training workshop for Seed Growers in the Upper West Region held at Wa on Wednesday. [more]
Ghana: Supply of Subsidized Fertilizer Delays ... Ashanti Farmers Worried Over Development
AllAfrica.com
The delay of the government in announcing this year's fertilizer subsidy program could have adverse effects on Ghana's food stocks, an investigation by The Chronicle indicates. Food stocks in the middle-belt zone, particularly, in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions, could suffer serious setbacks, following the delay in the implementation of the annual fertilizer subvention program that offers the opportunity for farmers to access fertilizer at cheaper cost to apply on their crops. Cereal crops and legumes planted across the middle belt have currently reached mature stages, and may require the application of fertilizers such as NPK15-15-15 and Ammonia, but reports indicate that many farmers in areas such as Ejura, Atebubu, Amanten, and other surrounding communities are in a limbo, as they anxiously await the government's announcement. [more]
Yam Farmers to Benefit from $12million AGRA Facility
GhanaWeb
Some 50,000 Ghanaian Yam Farmers have been selected alongside 150,000 others from Nigeria to benefit from a US$12 million facility under a special project by Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to improve yields and income for the yam farmers. The project, launch April 2, 2012, formed part of AGRA’s newly launched Farmer Organizations Support Centre (FOSCA) initiative, designed to identify and support small-holder farmers in four Africa countries to have access to funding, adopt best practices, improve their productivity, have access to market and meet market demands. [more]
Ghanaian Farmers, Others to Benefit from $7m Bill Gates-funded Commercial Products Project
Ghana Business News
Farmers in Ghana and five other African countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania will benefit from the second phase of the Commercial Products (COMPRO-II) project, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) announced in a statement April 30, 2012. The COMPRO-II project is a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that aims to institutionalize quality assurance mechanisms and facilitate the rapid dissemination of top quality agricultural commercial products to increase yields and improve the food security of smallholder farmers in the region. [more]
Hershey Announces GPS Project to map Cocoa Farms in Ghana
GhanaWeb
The Hershey Company, a chocolate manufacturing company, on Wednesday announced an innovative program to use GPS mapping to provide precise measurements of farm acreage as part of the ‘Hershey Learn to Grow’ Farm Program in Ghana. GPS mapping will help farmers better plan and manage their cocoa farms and increase yields and farmer incomes; Hershey said in statement made available to the Ghana News Agency. The program will help Ghanaian cocoa farmers better understand and utilize modern farm stewardship techniques to determine the precise size of their farms using GPS technology and a process of mapping and data collection called “GeoT”. Besides this, it will enable farmers understand the actual size of their farms which makes it easier for farmers to make the best use of the latest practices in planting, pruning and fertilizer techniques for maximum yield and sustainability. [more]
FAO Tells Ghana, Other African Oil Producers to Invest in Agric
Ghana Business News
Ghana, and other oil –producing African nations have been advised to use revenues from the ‘black gold’ to support their agric sectors. The FAO’s Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, who gave the advise at its Regional Conference for Africa in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo said African oil-producing nations have a great opportunity to promote the continent’s social and economic development and lift it out of its continuing food insecurity situation. [more]
Food Crisis/Security
US Improving Global Food Security
Western Farm Press
The U.S. government has made major strides toward putting agricultural development back at the top of its foreign assistance agenda, reversing a three-decade long downward trend in U.S. global food security activities, says a new report issued by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The 2012 Progress Report on U.S. Leadership in Global Agricultural Development (PDF) is the second in a series of annual reports tracking changes to the U.S. government's global agricultural development policy. The non-partisan assessment, issued by the Council's Global Agricultural Development Initiative, examines how these changes have contributed to U.S. leadership in improving global food security. The Initiative is cochaired by Catherine Bertini, former executive director, UN World Food Program, and Dan Glickman, former secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture. [more]
Four African Leaders to Join Food Security Talks at G8 Summit
CNN
President Barack Obama has invited four African leaders to join food security talks at the annual G8 summit this month. Presidents Yayi Boni of Benin, John Mills of Ghana and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia will attend the summit at the presidential retreat in Camp David. They will join Obama and other leaders of G8 member nations for a session on food security in Africa, the White House said in a statement. G8 -- or Group of Eight -- comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [more]
Food Security Ghana More Issues Ghanaians Should Ask About
GhanaWeb
In the previous issue Food Security Ghana (FSG) highlighted the fact that food security is not only a global issue of concern, but indeed an issue that should be high on the agenda when Ghanaians go to the polls in 2012. In the previous article we touched on the following issues that need clarification by the government of the day:
Food Security v Food Self-sufficiency Government statements and actions leaves an impression that there is not a clear distinction between food security and food self-sufficiency, and that this distorts policies and actions.
Tariffs and Duties Whereas many countries apply duties and tariffs to support consumers, the structure in Ghana seems to be totally insensitive to supply and demand issues.
Food Statistics In the absence of correct statistical information, government policies and thus resource allocation may be directed in the wrong direction. In the latest IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) report on Global Food Policy it states that decisions based on flawed data can damage economies, harm people’s well-being, and lead to significant financial losses, so policymakers and voters need realistic and accurate baseline data. [more]
Reports
Valuation of ecosystem services for assessment of cost of deforestation, and analysis of its drivers with implications for sustainable forest management in Ghana
Dissertationes Forestales 142. School of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science and Forestry, University of Eastern Finland
The aim of this thesis was to estimate the cost of deforestation and to identify its drivers in the high forest zone of Ghana. The purpose was also to raise awareness about the severity of deforestation and to offer suggestions for its control with a view to contributing to climate change mitigation. To compute the cost of deforestation, the values of four ecosystems’ services were estimated, employing opportunity and replacement cost techniques. The costs of wildfires resulting from loss of food and tree crops of communities were also estimated and deforestation-related behavior modeled using questionnaire surveys. Total Economic Values Framework, von Thunen and Chayanov models formed the theoretical basis of this work. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multinomial and ordinal logistic regression techniques. [more]