Below are some current developments on Agriculture in Africa:
Agricultural issues
COCOBOD Inaugurates Management Committees
Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board, on Thursday inaugurated management committees of three subsidiaries and charged members to use their expertise to boost cocoa productivity to attract and sustain the interest of the youth in cocoa farming. Dr. Opuni said the inability of the youth to go into cocoa cultivation in the face of ageing cocoa farmers has led to serious concerns about the long term sustainability of the cocoa supply chain. He said the surest way to attract the youth was to prove to them that cocoa farming is lucrative and also offer them the necessary support. The three management committees inaugurated are for Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), Seed Production Unit (SPU) and Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) in Accra.
Assinman Young Cocoa Farmers Association Inaugurated
The Executives of the Assinman Cocoa Farmers Association (AMCOFA) in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has inaugurated the Assinman Young Cocoa Farmers Association at the Jomsco Park at Assin Fosu in the Central Region. Dr. Kofi Blankson, Assin North Municipal Chief Executive, noted that Assin Fosu together with other communities is a cocoa growing area, and aside farming being their highest income activity, cocoa is the major crop cultivated. He further explained that, due to this development, it would be appropriate to inaugurate an association that will spearhead the activities of cocoa farming, especially among the youth, to motivate them to develop interest in cocoa-farming, as a career, to….
Government to Sanitize Fishing Industry
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mr. Nayon Bilijo, said government would not allow some few people to jeopardize efforts to sanitise the industry. “The Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU) in Ghana is a thing of the past and there is absolutely no room for bad actors in Ghanaian fisheries,” he said at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday. The press conference was on the looming challenge of blockage of Ghana’s fish consignment to the European Union Market, its sustainability to the country’s fisheries resources and the measures taken to stem the tide. He said the Ministry had issued new conditions for licences, which include cancellation of the licence of any vessel caught engaging in IUU fishing and noted that this was in line to sustain Ghana’s fisheries resources, which provided several millions in export earnings, employment and food security for Ghanaians.
TRAX Ghana Introduces Cultivation of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato
TRAX Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation promoting farming has introduced the cultivation of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) to help address the nutritional needs of children in the Upper East Region. Health authorities have identified the Upper East Region as having nutrition problems particularly among children and women. Speaking at a forum in Bolgatanga to share a baseline survey undertaken by the NGO to scale up the project in some farming communities in the Nabdam and Bongo Districts, the Director of TRAX, Mr Vincent Subbey disclosed that apart from the nutritional aspect of the crop, it would help address climate change problems in the area as well as promote food security. He stated that OFSP has short maturity period of about three months and could be cultivated in any marginalized land and still provide good yields.
Ghana Celebrates World Environment Day
Dr Musheibu Mohammed Alfa, Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation has urged Ghanaians to plant trees to reduce the impact of Climate Change. This, he said, will also protect the country's environment from pollution and also save Ghana from environmental degradation. Dr Alfa was speaking at the celebration of the World Environment Day (WED) at Danfa, in the La-Nkwantanang Municipal of the Greatef Accra Region. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has set aside June 5, every year, to mark the World Environment Day (WED). This year's celebration of the WED is under the global theme "Small Island Development States," with the slogan "Raise your voice, not the sea level," which is to shine the spotlight on Small Islands and their unique development changes and successes with climate change, the foremost among these challenges.
EPA and Stakeholders Collaborate to Protect Economic Plants
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Upper West Region, is collaborating with stakeholders to control activities that destroy the environment, especially economic and medicinal plants. The initiative was the EPA’s regional strategy designed to celebrate this year’s World Environmental Day, which will involve planting of about 1, 000 economic plants in the Bagri community of the Lawra District. Mrs. Zenabu Wasai-King, Upper West Regional Director of EPA, who made this known at a press conference said, the EPA would work with district assemblies, traditional rulers, waste management companies, the media, and social groups in the region, to play appropriate roles in helping to reduce the rate at which the physical environment was being degraded.
EPA Encourages Public to Cultivate Habit of Tree Planting
The Eastern Regional Director of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr. Felix Addo Okyere has called on Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of tree planting to save the environment from degradation. He said tree planting should be encouraged among individuals and groups since it does not only conserve the environment but could also serve as a means of livelihood. Mr. Addo-Okyireh made the call in an interview with Ghana News Agency in Koforidua after a forum to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day. He expressed concern about the high rate of tree felling in some communities and said more efforts should be made for people to replace the ones they cut down. Mr. Addo-Okyireh noted that plants purify the air, provide food, clothing and shelter as well as beautify the surroundings. "We should therefore use such natural resources with care and plant more trees and flowers to….
FINATRADE Calls for Quality Food Research Programmes
Mr John Awuni, Corporate Affairs Director of Finatrade Group of Companies, on Tuesday appealed to students in the various Universities, to carry out quality research programmes that would enhance food sufficiency in the country. He also appealed to government to implement research findings of Universities and think tanks, and sponsor some of the research programmes to achieve the food targets of the country. Mr. Awuni made this appeal when he presented a cheque for GHC 18,400.00 as Finatrade Foundation scholarship to eight Postgraduate students of four state universities in Accra. The students, two each from the University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University for Development Studies, would each receive a total of GHC2,300.00 for the 2014/2015 academic year.
Amend Forestry Commission ACT 1999 (571) – NGO
A local Non-Governmental Organization called Shea Network Ghana (SNG) has called for an amendment of the Forestry Commission Act 1999 (571). The organization whose interest is to protect the shea tree which is the economic mainstay of poor women of the three regions of the north is unhappy about the exclusion of the shea tree from the Forestry Commission Act 1999 (571). According to National Coordinator of Shea Network Ghana, Zakaria Iddi, his organization conducted a study and it was uncovered that the Act does not protect Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) including the shea and Baobab trees. He therefore called for a comprehensive national policy to curtail the wanton destruction of the shea tree for charcoal…
Farmers in Developing Countries have More Exposure to Pesticide Hazards
Farmers in developing countries use less pesticides, but are more exposed to its hazards. Mr. Joseph Edmund, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who made the observation, pointed out that the pesticides are not used appropriately by the farmers. He was speaking at a seminar organized for media personnel in the Brong-Ahafo Region on pesticides control and management in Sunyani. The seminar organized by the EPA, was to equip the participants with knowledge on the effective use of pesticides to educate the public on the dangers in the misuse of pesticides. He explained that the toxicity level in pesticides indicates how dangerous the product is to human life, but not its effectiveness. Mr. Edmund, therefore, urged the general public and farmers in particular, to purchase less toxic pesticides and use the complete set of productive clothing when handling or using pesticides.
Test Runs on E-agriculture Start in Regions
Test-runs of an e-Agriculture project have begun in all the regions to complement the work of extension officers and also make technology easily accessible to farmers. About 35,000 farmers with access to smart phones with inbuilt voicemail in six local languages have subscribed to the platform. The National Project Coordinator of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), Ghana, Mrs Azara Ali-Mamshie, made this known at the first sub-regional planning workshop in Kumasi last Monday. She told agricultural scientists attending the workshop that the success of the initiative would help bridge the gap between farmers and extension officers and thereby enhance productivity.
Calls for Attitudinal Change to Preserve Ghana’s Green Forest
As the world celebrates world environmental day tomorrow, a Non-governmental organization in environmental preservation Zerah Foundation is calling for attitudinal change to preserve Ghana’s green forest. The World Environment Day, commemorated on 5 June since 1972, is one of the ways in which the United Nations focuses world attention on the environment and encourages political action. The local theme for this year’s celebration is “greening our environment to save Ghana; Raise your voice, grow a tree to green the environment,” According to the Executive Director of Zerah Foundation Michael Awuni, activities of illegal Gallamsey and chainsaw operation pose serious danger to our environment and much must be done to halt these activities.
UN University Releases Report on Underutilized Plant Species
The United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) has released two research reports that affirm the potentials of some traditional plant species in tackling malnutrition, particularly among poor populations in Africa. The first research, conducted by Dr. Muibait O. Bello, a Visiting Scholar to the Institute, reveals that the leaves of baobab tree, locust bean tree and black plum tree contain high levels of fibre, calcium, zinc and magnesium. The study, which was carried out in Nigeria, also shows that monkey orange fruit contains five times the iron and vitamin C of conventional fruits like orange and guava.
UN Agency Pushes Forward More Aid for Remote South Sudan
FAO’s first airdrop in partnership with WFP will allow 250 households to produce over 200 tons of crops including maize, sorghum, cowpea and sesame. As the rainy season begins in South Sudan, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has scaled up its emergency response operations with large-scale airdrops to provide remote communities with livelihood kits that will allow them to plant crops, fish waterways and protect livestock from fatal diseases. The agency announced today that despite problems of access and insecurity in parts of the country, it has extended its emergency response for an additional three months to reach conflict-affected farmers, fishers and herders with the tools they need. Along with targeting conflict-affected communities with large-scale distributions by truck, FAO successfully flew ….
Nestlé Pledges Climate Change Leadership
Nestlé, the world’s leading nutrition, health and Wellness Company, has vowed to drive climate change leadership as part of its environmental commitments. As part of Nestlé’s environmental commitments, it has pledged to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per tonne of product by 35 per cent since 2005, by improving energy efficiency and investing in renewable energy sources. Nestlé is also boosting climate change leadership at its coffee factory in Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire. The company has invested CHF 15 million in a new boiler with a target to reduce its natural gas exhausts by 15 per cent using coffee grounds, and cut its carbon dioxide emissions by the same percentage
Malnutrition 'Damages Gut Bacteria'
Child malnutrition has long-term effects on gut health that affect development even after treatment, a study suggests. A team studied the gut health of malnourished children in Bangladesh. Writing in the journal Nature they said the bacterial make-up was not fully restored to normal after food supplements were given. They say the finding might explain why children often fail to grow normally even after treatment. The World Health Organization estimates severe acute malnutrition affects about 20 million children worldwide. Moderate acute malnutrition, a less serious form of the disease, is more prevalent in South Central Asia, where it affects 30 million children. In Bangladesh, more than 40% of children under five are affected by stunted growth.
Pupils Feed on Palm Kernel during School Hours
Pupils at Yawforikrom-Tainso, a farming community in the Sunyani West District of the Brong-Ahafo Region, feed on palm kernel to sustain them during school hours. Nana Safrado Kwasi Amankwa, Odikro of Yaw Forikrom-Tainso, explained that the poor farmers could not afford enough food for the pupils who travel at a distance to attend school, and during the day resort to feed on palm kernel for sustenance. He disclosed this when Madam Agnes Kusi, Sunyani West District Chief Executive, made a familiarization visit to some communities. Other communities visited were, Abisu, Kwame Krakrom and Adoe.
Future Female Agricultural Scientists Empowered
The number of female students taking up careers in agricultural sciences in Ghana has over the years dwindled, mainly due to non-mechanized agriculture in the country. Most students dream of only pursuing careers in conventional sciences such as medicine, pharmacy, and usually view careers in agricultural sciences as punishment due to the traditional mode of farming-use of hoe and cutlass. However, women in Ghana are the forefront of agricultural processing and management in the informal sector, ensuring Ghana achieves food security. As part of the efforts to educate young students about the career prospects in agricultural sciences, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) organized a role modelling event on the theme Raising Female Scientists for the Next Generation for students at the Wesley Girls High School...
Africans Sign Support for ‘Cocoa Na Chocolate’ Campaign
Five months after the launch ‘Do Agric, it Pays!’ petition encouraging African leaders to make good on their promises to improve their investments in agriculture, One.org has enlisted more than 1.2 million signatures to the online petition. A majority of these come from Nigeria. In April, ONE.org ambassador, Dbanj released the video ‘Cocoa Na Chocolate’ featuring 19 top African musicians in support of this campaign. The song, which also features Omawumi, Femi Kuti, Kunle Ayo and Dontom calls on Africans and leaders to use agriculture to create jobs and grow the economy. The hit collaboration has been well received by the public and judging by the number of signatures to the campaign, young Africans really support the message.
Farmer Revenues Increased in Nigeria
Sulaiman Bolarinde Famro from Nigeria was selected as a top 10 finalist in the 2014 Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) which drew over 700 entries from across Africa. His innovation, the Farmking Multi-Crop Processor, is a machine used in the processing of different types of tubers to create a “paste” from the tubers that can be used to make food e.g. Foufou and having starch as a by-product. Traditionally, the starch is thrown away as waste, but the Farmking allows the collection of this starch which can then be sold to the pharmaceutical industry for a number of industrial processes. This greatly increases farming outputs and revenues for farmers while saving the environment from the degradation that occurs with improper disposal of the starch.
Food security/crisis
Australia Gives Impetus to Farming Activities
Farming activities across the nation are receiving a big push from the Australia government, to guarantee food security and reduce poverty. This follows a 1.2-million-dollar deal clinched by the Australian High Commission and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to train agricultural extension officers and supervisors on contemporary agricultural extension service delivery methods, agri-business and farm management. Speaking at a training event for 40 officers at Dodowa on Thursday, Ms Joanna Adamson, Australia High Commissioner in Ghana, urged farmers to see farming as a business to make money, reduce poverty and increase food security.
Index Suggests Progress Being Made On Food Security
A survey of global food security shows most countries have made progress in that area in the past year. The 2014 Global Food Security Index showed 70 per cent of the countries in the study increased their scores over the previous year. The index measured 109 countries against 28 food security indicators. It’s a partnership of DuPont and the Economist Intelligence Unit. DuPont’s Craig Binetti says the index provides a common set of metrics to track progress in food security globally. Most of the progress in this year’s index was seen in the Sub-Saharan Africa countries… Some examples included 9 point 5 per cent in Malawi to 18 point 9 per cent in Ghana. This year’s Global Food Security Index showed several developing nations continue to deal with inadequate infrastructure, political risk and food inflation.
Reports/Articles
Local-level Appraisal of Benefits and Barriers Affecting Adoption of Climate-smart Agricultural Practices: Ghana
CA Peterson - 2014
Although Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices are expected to boost adaptive capacity, food security and climate change mitigation in resource poor, smallholder farming systems, the barriers that can restrict their uptake are diverse. This study investigated the principal barriers hindering the adoption of CSA practices in the Upper West region of Ghana with the aim of inventorying existing uptake of CSA and providing recommendations to CCAFS as to practices with potential for further research or implementation on the farm level. A questionnaire survey of 60 households in 2 villages in Lawra District, in addition to focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews, revealed that non-adoption was most often a result of insufficient financial capital, difficult access to or low availability of the necessary agricultural inputs (tools, seeds and fertilizers), water scarcity, and in some cases insufficient labor to …
Risk on Dynamic Behavior of Farmers in the Export Market: A Case from the Pineapple Industry in Ghana
A Suzuki - 2014
While the role of risks in technology adoption is a classical topic, its effects beyond adoption have not been examined well enough despite that dis-adoption of a technology is also common. This paper examines the role of risk preferences and an exogenous shock on the survival of farmers for a case of export pineapple industry in Ghana. Employing hazard analyses, we find that risk preferences indeed matter for survival and the hazard of exit increased significantly in the period after the occurrence of the exogenous shock. We also find that education has an effect of increasing the resilience of farmers against risks.
Analysis of Supply Response and Price Risk on Rice Production in Nigeria
OE Ayinde, DA Bessler, FE Oni - 2014
Rice, which is one of the major sources of energy, vital nutrients and a staple food, is in short supply in many Nigerian households. Nigeria is among many African countries that have engaged in agricultural liberalization since 1986 in the hope that reforms emphasizing price incentives will encourage producers to respond. Hitherto, the reforms seem to have introduced greater uncertainty into the market given increasing rates of price volatility (Ajetomobi 2010). This study therefore models supply responses in Nigerian Rice production that include the standard arguments as well as price risk. Statistical information on domestic and imported quantities of rice was obtained for 41 years (1970 to 2011) from the AGROSTAT system of the statistical division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Federal Ministry of Agriculture statistical bulletins, Central Bank of Nigeria statistical bulletins and National Bureau of Statistic. (NBS).
Food Gifting, Kinship Networks and Household Food Security
S Sun, H An, P Marcoul - 2014
Widespread chronic food insecurity and threats of famine are amidst the central challenges facing the region of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Numerous risks to agricultural production are one of the leading causes to food insecurity in this region. Millions of smallholder farmers produce food in extremely challenging production environment characterized by a combination of low land productivity and harsh weather conditions (i.e., high average temperature and scarce precipitation), which results in very low levels of agricultural production and severe food insecurity at both household and national levels. Apart from from vagaries of weather facing by small-scale subsistence farmers, Life in SSA is also plagued by risks resulted from pest, crop disease and damage, job opportunities, health and other geographic and demographic variates, for which…..
Multidimensional Household Food Security Measurement in Rural Zambia
A Wineman - 2014
Food security is recognized as a multifaceted condition of complex causality that is related to, yet distinct from, poverty and hunger. Given its broad definition, it is no surprise that food security eludes precise measurement. This study considers there to be three components of household food security (quantity, quality, and stability), and attempts to address the "concept-to-measurement" gap in food security by building an index that spans these three dimensions. A panel data set is used for descriptive analysis of food security indicators in rural Zambia in 2000/01, 2003/04, and 2007/08 for different types of households, including female-headed households. A multidimensional index of food security for rural Zambia is then developed using principal component analysis. This composite index is used to explore the spatial patterns of food security in Zambia over time, to assess correlates of food insecurity, and to measure the impacts of climate shocks on food security.
More than Adopters: the Welfare Impacts of Farmer Innovation in Rural Ghana
JA Tambo, T Wünscher - 2014
With the rapidly changing economic environments and numerous challenges hindering smallholders’ adoption of externally developed technologies, it is often argued that farmers’ innovations may be essential in the livelihoods of rural farm households and need to be promoted. Yet a rigorous assessment of the impacts of farmer innovation is lacking. Consequently, we analyse the effect of farmer innovation on household welfare, measured by farm and household income, consumption expenditure and food security. Using data from a recent field survey of rural farm households in northern Ghana and endogenous switching regression which controls for non-random selection bias, we estimate the welfare gains for innovators from innovating, and non-innovators had they innovated. We find that farmer innovation significantly improves both household income and consumption expenditure for innovators. It also contributes significantly to the reduction of food insecurity among innovative households by increasing household food consumption…
Agricultural Technology Adoption and Child Nutrition: Improved Maize Varieties in Rural Ethiopia
D Zeng, J Alwang, G Norton, B Shiferaw, M Jaleta… - 2014
Adoption of agricultural technology can lead to multiple benefits to farm households, including increased productivity, incomes and food consumption. However, specific causal linkages between agricultural technology adoption and child nutrition outcomes are rarely explored in the literature. This paper helps bridge this gap through an impact assessment of the adoption of improved maize varieties on child nutrition outcomes using a recent household survey in rural Ethiopia. The conceptual linkage between adoption of improved maize varieties and child nutrition is first established using an agricultural household model. Instrumental variable (IV) estimation suggests the overall impacts of adoption on child height-for-age and weight-for-age z-scores to be positive and significant. Quantile IV regressions further reveal that such impacts are largest among children with poorest nutritional outcomes. By combining a decomposition procedure with system of equations estimation, it is found that the increase in own-produced maize consumption is …