Agricultural Issues
Ghana Agriculture Census Starts
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is supporting Ghana through the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to implement an agricultural census in 2016, Mr Kofi Humado, Minister of Food and Agriculture has stated. Mr. Humado said FAO, the Ministry and the GSS signed the agreement in 2013. The project is being funded by the FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme, to provide reliable data on the agricultural sector. The Minister said this on Friday in Accra at an event on the Reflection on Agriculture Data and Information Systems in the country.
FSG Criticises Plant Breeders’ Bill
Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG), a body opposed to Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs), has described the Plant Breeders’ Bill at the consideration stage before our Parliament as imposition of genetically modified organisms into the food chain… t is obvious that there is an orchestrated attempt not only to mislead Parliament into voting for the Bill, but also to throw dust into the eyes of the Ghanaian public about the real intent and import of the Bill vis-à-vis the enabling of the plant breeder to introduce GMOs into our food chain without…
Are Genetically Modified Crops Finally On Their Way Out?
Predictably, the recommendation by an experts' panel appointed by the Supreme Court - that trials of genetically modified (GM) crops should be halted for 10 years - has stirred a hornet's nest. Such a moratorium would include ongoing trials and the court rejected it. his follows on the heels of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture's 492-page report published in August which asked for the banning of GM food crops in the country. The Supreme Court set up the expert panel shortly after the report was published. The Court is set to let its ruling known, very soon.
Farmers Apply Change in Climate Technology to Farm
Some small holder farmers in five communities in the Savelugu Nanton Municipality have adapted to climate change effects such as low rains, often resulted in low crop yields. Some of the farmers explained that although the area recorded low rains in the last farming season, their yield increased by 100 per cent due to the exposure to good agronomic practices and training on climate resilience…Madam Awalbu Lansah, 40, mother of four said, her yield of maize increased from four maxi bags per acre to 10 maxi bags per acre.
Vegetable Farmers Urged To Adopt Greenhouse Technology
Mr. Kwabena Adu-Gyamfi, Managing Director of Agri Commercial Services at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region, has urged farmers — especially vegetable growers — to embrace greenhouse technology as a new vehicle to enhance and change their mode of farming in order to better their lot. Adoption of greenhouse technology, he says, among other things brings change to the farming system so as to guarantee massive yield increase, quality produce, investment security and a prolonged farming season.
adb Expresses Interest in Listing on GSE
The Agricultural Development Bank (adb) says it is on course to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) this year to enable it raise additional equity to deepen its operations. The move, though yet to be endorsed by government which is the majority shareholder, will enable the bank to finance capital-intensive businesses in all sectors of the economy — including the oil and gas sector. Our plans of going to the stock market for recapitalisation and expansion programmes this year is very much on course,” said Adam Sulley, Head of Marketing & Client. Service of the bank told B&FT at an interview in Accra.
USAID to Invest about $6m in Agriculture in Ghana
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday launched a project in Accra to offer financial assistance to Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) and peasant farmers across the country. Known as USAID-Financing Ghanaian Agriculture Project (FinGAP), it also aims to increase productivity in the agricultural sector of the country. Rick Dvorin, Chief of Party for USAID-FinGAP, in a speech, stated that “the project is part of USAID’s Feed the Future Programme, which aims to establish commercially-driven agricultural development services critical to ensuring sustainable food security in Ghana.
African Farming: Cassava Now the Centre of Attention
Standing in his cassava field under the blazing sun in Mampong, central Ghana, Elvis Opoku says he owes much to the humble root.
Having started cultivating a five acre pilot cassava field, the 27-year-old farmer has moved on to grow 20 acres of the starchy root, which has allowed him to expand his poultry farm and buy a store for his wife…The market for cassava’s commercial and industrial use has started to grow. Its root starch is now in demand from food and beverage companies for bread and beer production. It can also be used in plywood and pharmaceuticals, as well as feedstock for the production of ethanol biofuel.
GIZ and Israel Supports Ghanaian Farmers
Citrus farmers and technical officers of the Ministry of Food & Agriculture (MoFA) drawn from the Eastern and Ashanti regions are expected to undergo a two-week training to enhance their capacity. Jointly organized by MASHAV, the Israeli Agency of International Development Cooperation, German GIZ and the Ministry of Food & Agriculture (MoFA), the workshop is intended to revitalize the citrus industry through interventions that will attract investments into fruit processing facilities and ultimately generate higher income levels for the citrus growers.
About 80% of Northern Women Engaged in Small Scale Farming-Report
A research conducted by Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL) last year, revealed that women in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions have low access to land and no secure tenure. Despite this, about 80 per cent of women from these three regions are engaged in small scale farming as means to sustain the livelihoods of their families. The objective of the workshop which was organized by Better Life and Trust Foundation (BeLT Foundation) was to improve women access, control and secure tenure on land in the face of large scale acquisition of land in the three northern regions.
Savannah Young Farmers Network (SavaNet)
The mission of the Savannah Young Farmers Network (SavaNet) is: to accelerate Ghana’s Agricultural development through the development of a vibrant youth in Agriculture sector that spearheads productivity across the Agricultural value chain. The Savannah Young Farmers Network (SavaNet) therefore formulates and implements innovative youth in Agriculture projects aimed at actively engaging the youth in Agriculture for the creation of viable Agribusinesses across the Agricultural value chain
Food Security/Crisis
Ethiopia: AU Summit to Discuss Agriculture, Food Security
Agriculture and food security will be the main issues on the agenda when African leaders meet for the 22nd Ordinary Summit of the African Union in Ethiopia. The theme for the summit scheduled for 30-31 January in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is "2014 Year of Agriculture and Food Security, Marking 10th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)."… The activities include the African Agribusiness Forum planned for June, which will explore business opportunities for African entrepreneurs, particularly women and youth in the context of agricultural transformation and inclusive growth.
Extravagant Funerals in U/E; Bane of Food Insecurity
Extravagant funeral performances by some people in the Upper East Region have been identified as a major factor militating against food security and nutrition in the area. This came to light when Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment-Ghana (RISE-Ghana), a Non-Governmental Organisation with funding from World Vision Ghana, an international NGO, organised advocacy programmes through dramas at separate functions in the Talensi district, to sensitize the Kpangour-Yamsouk, Sheaga, Kaare and Sawalga communities about the negative effects of expensive funerals.
Reports/Articles
The White Volta Basin, Climate Change and Food Security: Perspectives of Riparian Communities in Northern Ghana
AS Mohammed, EK Derbile, MI Mordzeh-Ekpampo - Journal of Environmental …, 2013
This paper has examined how the resources of the White Volta River are enhancing food availability for riparian communities in northern Ghana despite climate change and its associated effects on food security. Using different participatory methods such as focus group discussions and interviews, data was collected from households and institutions in three riparian communities. The result of the study indicates that, all things been equal, cultivation of food crops near the river in the rainy season gives significantly high yields as compared to yields from other locations in the communities. Farmers now cultivate food crops such as maize and rice which were hitherto reserved for rainy seasons. However, they are concerns about the potential threats of livelihood activities on the sustenance of the river. The study therefore concludes that the sustenance of the river is very crucial for the development of the riparian communities…
Processes Underpinning Development and Maintenance of Diversity in Rice in West Africa: Evidence from Combining Morphological and Molecular Markers
A Mokuwa, E Nuijten, F Okry, B Teeken, H Maat… - PLOS ONE, 2014
We assessed the interplay of artificial and natural selection in rice adaptation in low-input farming systems in West Africa. Using 20 morphological traits and 176 molecular markers, 182 farmer varieties of rice (Oryza spp.) from 6 West African countries were characterized. Principal component analysis showed that the four botanical groups (Oryza sativa ssp. indica, O. sativa ssp. japonica, O. glaberrima, and interspecific farmer hybrids) exhibited different patterns of morphological diversity. Regarding O. glaberrima, morphological and molecular data were in greater conformity than for the other botanical groups…
Optimizing Productivity of Food Crop Genotypes in Low Nutrient Soils
THE JOINT FAO/IAEA DIVISION OF NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
This 5-year Coordinated Research Project (CRP) entitled ‘Selection and evaluation of food (cereal and legume) crop genotypes tolerant to low nitrogen and phosphorus soils through the use of isotopic and nuclear-related techniques’ established a research network and supported the efforts of teams of scientists in sixteen Member States (Australia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Ghana, Kenya Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria and the United States of America The aim of this CRP was the development of integrated crop, soil and nutrient management practices to increase crop production in marginal lands by identifying and promoting the development of food crop genotypes (cereal and legume) with enhanced nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use efficiency and greater productivity in marginal lands.
Oil Palm Industry Growth in Africa: A Value Chain and Smallholders’ Study for Ghana
Kwabena Ofosu-BUDU and Daniel Bruce SARPONG
Oil palm is native to West Africa. The West African region – especially Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone – is a major producer of both palm oil and palm kernel oil (PKO). However, because of internal marketing and supply-side constraints, as well as subsidies for commercial and food aid imports of competing vegetable oils, domestic availability of palm oil has not always been reliable. The consumption of palm oil and other palm products is expected to increase in West Africa and in other parts of the continent as the population grows. In many countries, the palm oil sector has a significant economic impact. In Nigeria, the palm oil industry employs millions of workers, while in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone it is a major source of income and trade along the common border districts.