Below are some current developments on Agriculture in Africa:
Agricultural Issues
Hunger and Under Nutrition Must be Priority – IFPRI
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 2013 Report has advocate that ending hunger and under nutrition by 2025 should be a priority agenda in post 2015 development agenda worldwide. The Global Food Policy Report circulated by IFPRI and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday said though discussions of the post-2015 development agenda have focused on the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 203, it was not possible to fight poverty without simultaneously taking steps to reduce hunger and under nutrition. It said hunger and under nutrition are responsible for poverty, as a result, negatively affects health, and had social and economic costs implications. Adding: “Under nutrition limits people’s educational achievements and productivity, a result that in turn checks economic growth”.
Embracing Agricultural Biotechnology
Agriculture contributes over 25 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and employs above 70 percent of the labour force in most African countries’ economies. This is according to the African Biosafety Network of Expertise, a science-based biosafety resource network for African regulators. The African Biosafety Network of Expertise adds that most people in Africa use agriculture as their avenue to escape harsh realities of life. Surprisingly, less is being done to embrace agricultural biotechnology – a science and technology technique used to improve plants, animals and microorganisms and to fight poverty. As a result, very few African countries have embraced agricultural biotechnology. In fact, only 10 countries are taking necessary steps. According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, only South Africa grows genetically modified food crops while Burkina Faso and Sudan grow GM cotton. Seven other African countries - Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda – have conducted GM field trials.
Ghana Urged to Develop Strategy for Agriculture
Discussants at the third edition of the Ghana Economic Forum JEF) 2014 have called for a development strategy with agriculture as the focal point to quickly address the widening balance of trade deficit. Agriculture, the discussants’ agree, is the long-term solution to the country’s economic challenges which have seen a sharp decline in the value of the Ghana cedi against the major trading currency – the US dollar. “There is a consensus that there no vision for this country at all. Going forward, we need a clear-cut vision. Secondly, agriculture is the way to go. The only hindering factor is the poor institutions in land management,” the moderator of the session ‘Finding a Better Development Strategy’, Kwame Adanu, an economist with GIMPA said.
AGRIPRO to Hold Workshop on Agribusiness
AGRIPRO presents the second edition of THE PLATFORM, a monthly Agribusiness creation and management workshop with networking for people who are interested in initiating new Agribusinesses as well as people who aspire to venture in the Agricultural Industry. Participants will learn how to start up an agribusiness, the cost involved, the problems associated with it and how they can be solved. Find out new and improved methods of operating such businesses and form a network which may help improve production. The workshop would be made up of two main intensive focus group discussions on Poultry production and Vegetable production.
Nkurakan Animal Farmers Trained in Animal Disease
A three-days workshop for the training of community `based volunteers among landless farmers, in the identification and treatment of common diseases in poultry, sheep and goats had ended at Nkurakan in the Yilo-Krobo Municipality. The training programme forms part of alternative livelihood project for poverty alleviation being organised by the Krobo-Danish Association(KROBODAN), a non-governmental organization based in the Yilo Krobo Municipality. Speaking at the formal opening of the workshop, Mr. Joshua Nyumuah, Secretary General of KROBODAN said, effect of climate change was more drastic on crops now than on livestock in the country.
About 17,000 Women Benefit from USAID-ADVANCE Agriculture Project
The first phase of the Agriculture Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) Programme under the Feed the Future initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has empowered more women farmers to be productive. Dr Emmanuel Dormon, Chief of Party of the USAID-ADVANCE Project has expressed satisfaction at the achievement of the five-year project, which witnessed the involvement of about 17,000 women working to complement government’s efforts towards reducing poverty. He said with increased support for women in the area of technology and innovation as well as agro-processing, women could contribute about 30 per cent of gross domestic product of the country.
Vegetables Farmers in Sekondi-Takoradi are Not Using Good Water?
Vegetables farmers in Sekondi-Takoradi are falling out of business because of poor patronage of the their produce by traders and the general public, a Ghana News Agency survey has revealed. Many farmers are now drifting to other regions particularly Kumasi in the Ashanti Region where prospects of vegetable farming are good. The gloomy and unpredictable vegetable business in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis is mainly attributed to the use of a heavily polluted stream to water the vegetables. The GNA’s survey also revealed that traders prefer selling vegetables cultivated in Kumasi and openly invite buyers by shouting “This vegetable is from Kumasi”.
Food Security/Crisis
Ghana: Local Government Ministry Signs MOU With DFATD, Canada
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, yesterday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) of Canada. The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Kwasi Oppong Ofosu, said in 2008, the Government of Canada had made a financial commitment of about CDN$14,300,000 for the purpose of implementing the Food Security and Environment Facility (FSEF) project in the three Northern Regions of Ghana--a contribution arrangement which is expected to end in May 31, 2016. Hon. Ofosu said the goal of the eight-year project was to assist Ghana in its efforts to achieve food security through environmentally-sound agricultural development.
Reports/Articles
Pathways of Farmers Innovation, A Case Study of Pineapple Farmers in the Nsawam Municipal Assembly of Ghana
D AduAnkrah, PT Dorward, CJ Garforth - IJAIR, 2014
Agricultural innovations systems are continuously evolving hence it is imperative to understand ways through which farmers innovate in developing country context. This study explores ways through which farmers innovate taking into account farmers belonging to farmer groups that received assistance in the form of training and financial credit from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana programme financed by the United States of America government. The study examined pineapple farmers in the Nsawam Municipal Assembly (NMA) of Ghana. The study employed a qualitative approach. This approach involved the use of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and key Informant Interviews (KIIs). Both groups of farmers innovate through experimentation, through training received from NGOs and government agencies, through observation, discussions, accidental discoveries and influence from big…
Effects of Gender, Education and Age on the Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Ashanti, Northern and Eastern Regions of Ghana.
E Asiedu-Darko - Journal of Applied Science And Research, 2014
Gender, education and age issues cut across all areas in agricultural production and even though agricultural technologies are gender, education and age neutral, they often become influenced by these factors during project formulation and implementation in farming systems. This happens despite the fact that technology development and transfer should aim at equal opportunities for all people irrespective of gender, age and education. The study was undertaken with the aim of determining gender, education and age impact on the adoption of agricultural technologies. The study revealed that gender has no significant effect on the adoption of agricultural technologies while age correlated negatively with adoption. Education however, correlated positively with adoption of these technologies. The effects of these relationships and their importance to productivity in agriculture were discussed.
Morphological, Chemical and Physical Properties of Two et al.: Properties of two pan soils in the lower Volta basin of Ghana 63 Pan Soils in the Lower Volta Basin of Ghana
VK Avornyo, TA Adjadeh, JK Amatekpor - West African Journal of Applied Ecology, 2013
The morphological, chemical and physical properties of two pan soils, namely Kpejeglo series and Agawtaw series were studied. Kpejeglo series and Agawtaw series together constitute the largest soil association in the lower Volta basin of the Accra Plains. They also occupy a very large portion of the Ho-Keta plains. Two pedons of each series were studied and the results showed that both soils were slightly acidic in the A horizons but alkaline in the B horizons. The electrical conductivity of the soils followed the trend of the pH, showing an increase from the top to the bottom of the pedons. Although the soils generally contained high amounts of extractable bases, and had high CEC, the amount of organic carbon in the four pedons was very low, < 1%.Percentage base saturation and exchangeable sodium percentage increased with depth in all the four pedons due to the presence of large amounts of …
Urban Agriculture and Pesticide Overdose: A Case Study of Vegetable Production at Dzorwulu-Accra
I Yeboah - 2013
Urban Agriculture is crucial to the supply of food especially fresh vegetables in many urban areas including Accra. In addition to the supply of food, it serves as a source of employment and income for many urban dwellers. However, most urban farmers resort to the use of pesticides in controlling the pest pressures they face. The Dzorwulu Plant Pool Site in Accra was used as a case study to explore the attitudes of urban farmers towards the use of pesticide, assess the threats they face by using pesticide and together with them, identify alternative ways of controlling pest. By employing convenience and purposive sampling techniques, 15 farmers and 5 other stakeholders were selected for data collection through participant observation, interviews and focus group discussions. Secondary data was used in the study.
The Significance of Postharvest Maize Handling to Food Sufficiency in Subsistence Farm Households in Aframso; Ejura-Sekyeredumansi District, Ghana
KS Omane - 2013
The study concentrated on the role postharvest maize handling in subsistence farm household’s food sufficiency in Aframso, Ejura-Sekyeredumansi District, located in the middle belt Ghana. Maize remains an integral crop for subsistence farm households and plays a vital role in safe guarding food security in the country as a whole. It is the most widely consumed staple food in the district and Ghana in general, it happens to be the most important cereal grain in the country. Subsistence farmers in this district are involved in substantial quantity of maize production in each farming season therefore it was prudent to undertake this case study to explore the food sufficiency status of the farmers themselves at the grassroots who are involved with the maize productivity.