Agricultural Issues
GHI Calls for Resilience to Boost Food Security
The International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) Global Hunger Index (GHI) has called for greater resilience in efforts to boost food and nutrition security. The 2013 GHI, released for the eighth year by the IFPRI, Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide, said the developing world was becoming more vulnerable to a variety of shocks and stressors from extreme weather events, climate change and environmental degradation.
Farmers Call for Farm Mechanization Centre
The Kobdema Farmers Association has appealed to the government to provide a farm mechanization centre in the Builsa North District to support farmers in the area to expand their farm sizes. The Secretary of the Association, Mr. Ademin Atengkperik who read a statement on behalf of the farmers at a press conference on Tuesday at Sandema, said it had come to the realization that the continuous dependence on the hoe and cutlass as major tools for farming over the years was a major contributory factor to the low agriculture production and food insecurity in the area.
Ghana: Rice Farmers Plan Demonstrate Against MOFA
Rice farmers at Ohiamadwen and its surrounding communities in the Shama District are planning a massive demonstration against the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) over the closure of a rice mill in the area.
Ghana, Netherlands to Explore Agribusiness Potential
The governments of Ghana and the Netherlands have expressed their commitments to explore the agriculture potential of the Northern Sector of the country in order to boost agribusiness and increase non-traditional exports. “The Northern Sector has huge economic potential for commercial agriculture especially vegetable production for export and the government is seeking strategic partnership, through Public Private Partnership, to develop the agribusiness potentials of these regions, the Minister of Trade and Industry said.
Reports/Articles
Change Trends In Agricultural Extension Strategies: Who Dictates?
Scottish Journal of Arts, Social Sciences and Scientific Studies – ISSN 2047-1278
Agriculture Extension Services is core to every nation’s agricultural development. There are efforts by the various stakeholders to improve extension services through various means and processes. The outcomes of the interactive processes between farmers and frontline staff in this effort so far in Ghana, if not Africa as a whole, have not been effective and hence the need to review the strategies used so far with the bid to contribute towards development intervention in the agricultural sector.
An empirical assessment of Fair Trade networks: A perspective for low- and middle-income countries?
This paper presents cross-country empirical evidence on the determinants of participation in Fair Trade networks and the impact of the export of Fair Trade certified products on agricultural growth in low- and middle-income countries. Using the number of certified producer organizations per country in 2006-2010 as a proxy for Fair Trade exports, estimation results indicate a significantly positive effect on the growth rate of per capita value added in agriculture. Given the particularly poverty-reducing effect of agricultural growth, the estimation results provide empirical evidence that Fair Trade is indeed able to deliver its core values.
Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Northeast Ghana & Systematic Literature Review
Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy Working Paper No. 154
Despite the international significance attached to climate change adaptation, there remains a lack of understanding of the key barriers that impede the effective implementation of adaptation strategies by households across sub-Saharan Africa. Better understanding of the vulnerability of agriculture-dependent households to climate variability requires exploration of the barriers that constrain the implementation of adaptation strategies. This paper uses case studies from northeast Ghana and a systematic literature review to assess the barriers that restrict effective implementation of climate adaptations in sub-Saharan Africa.
Development Planning in Ghana Since 1992: Implications for the Decentralization Process
International Relations and Diplomacy, ISSN 2328-2134 November 2013, Vol. 1, No.2, 93-107
Ghana completed the first development plan in the developing world, the Guggisburg Plan in 1926, which was developed and executed by the colonial administration without any participation from the masses and implemented largely by the administrative service. Meanwhile, with the inception of the decentralization process in the late 1980s and Ghana’s return to democratic governance in 1992 (Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana), development policymaking has taken a new dimension. Since 1992, there has been four development plans namely. Majority of the decisions and activities that inform all four development plans since 1992 have followed similar approaches as those before where central government agencies continue to have dominance in these processes and activities. This paper therefore reviews the four plans developed under Ghana’s Fourth Republic to ascertain what are in these plans for advancing Ghana’s decentralization process to ensure significant input from relevant stakeholders, and offer possible recommendations for future development planning efforts.
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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