Below are some current developments on Agriculture in Africa:
Agricultural Issues
Government to Increase Food-crop Production - President Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama on Friday hinted that government would for the coming years increase investment on the production of rice, sugar, poultry products and tomatoes. Increasing their production, he added would drastically reduce the importation of those commodities and create sufficient jobs for people that would be engaged in their production. President Mahama gave this hint when Dr Sipho Moyo, Executive Director of ONE Africa, an agricultural campaign group called on him at the Flagstaff House, Kanda. The delegation was at the Presidency to inform the President on their campaign activities in the continent and to seek his support to invest massively in the agricultural sector. ONE Africa campaign project is an advocacy Organization of 3.5 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa by raising awareness on works with political leaders to combat AIDs and other preventable diseases.
President Mahama Blames IMF,World Bank for Africa's Agric Woes
President John Dramani Mahama has pointed accusing fingers at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund for forcing African governments to abandon subsidies for their farmers. "Indeed African Agriculture was affected in the 70s by the policies of the World Bank and the IMF. They came with policies that said that we should allow the farmers to compete. We were made to remove subsidies... while they continued subsidizing farmers in the western countries . The African farmer was left to himself." His comments follow a meeting with leaders of One Africa, a campaign and advocacy organization who had called on him to make a case for small holder farmers and transparency in Agriculture budgets across Africa.
Government To Reduce Importation Drastically
President John Dramani Mahama on Friday hinted that government would for the coming years increase investment on the production of rice, sugar, poultry products and tomatoes. Increasing their production, he added would drastically reduce the importation of those commodities and create sufficient jobs for people that would be engaged in their production. President Mahama gave this hint when Dr Sipho Moyo, Executive Director of ONE Africa, an agricultural campaign group called on him at the Flagstaff House, Kanda. The delegation was at the Presidency to inform the President on their campaign activities in the continent and to seek his support to invest massively in the agricultural sector. ONE Africa campaign project is an advocacy Organisation of 3.5 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa by raising awareness on works with political leaders to combat AIDs and other preventable diseases.
Stakeholders Urged to Embrace Sustainable Land Management
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called on stakeholders to embrace sustainable land management practices to check climatic change and desertification, which are threats to food security in the Ghana. The EPA said ploughing along slopes, improper plastic disposal, intrusion on buffer zones of water bodies, indiscriminate land clearing and bush fires are identified as practices which contribute to climatic change in the country. Mr. Daniel Amlalo, the Executive Director of EPA, said the actions and inactions of Ghanaians were partly responsible for the extreme weather events in Ghana, which has also a taken a toll on the agricultural output in most communities.
The Ghanaian Cocoa Farmer is Poor
Dr Francis Oppong, Deputy Chief Executive, Ghana Cocoa Board today said. “Cocoa farmers are the bedrock of our industry and yet they appear to be the most vulnerable link in the cocoa value chain”. Adding, Cocoa farmers are poor and less competitive in spite of the cash crop’s immeasurable contribution to national development. Dr Oppong was speaking at the launch of Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme (CORIP) in Tema, where the average yield of the Ghanaian cocoa farmer is relatively low and that “Low productivity leads to low income and poverty among cocoa farmers”. He said the farmers lack the needed resources to invest in the requisite imputs to enhance the productivity of their farms as well as achieving better livelihoods, which include education for their children.
Netherlands Trade Minister Launches Programme to Develop Ghana's Cocoa Sector"
The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, has officially launched the Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme CORIP at the Cargill factory premises in Tema. Funded both by the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana through a 7 million Euro grant and by the private sector through an expected co-funding of up to 14 million Euros, CORIP aims to develop the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cocoa farming in Ghana. It addresses the institutional challenges of the cocoa supply chain in finding efficient ways of providing support services to cocoa growers. Launching the programme, Ms. Lilianne Ploumen said CORIP is a great example of public-private sector cooperation, where public funds are used to leverage private funding.
Nestle, Cocobod Ensure Cocoa Farmer Well-being
Nestle is in partnership with Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) to train the country’s cocoa farmers in best agricultural practices. The partnership, dubbed “Nestle Cocoa Action Plan”, will be targetted at training farmers on how to increase yields, reduce disease, respect the environment and produce a better quality crop to attract higher prices. It is to ensure long-term benefits for thefarmers, the government and other stakeholders in the cocoa industry. Ms. Sandra Martinez, Head of Nestlé’s Confectionery Business, said: “The Nestle Cocoa Action Plan was made up of a productivity package that consisted of training, new planting materials and fertilisers as well as a community development package focused on education, gender parity and child labour. “Our ambition is to prevent and eliminate all forms of child labour from our supply chain, while respecting family situations and the legitimate need for rural development.
Cocoa Deficit Puts the Squeeze on Chocolate Bars
Chocoholics have suspected it for years but now it is official. Welcome to the era of the shrinking chocolate bar. At the World Cocoa Conference in Amsterdam this month Jean-Marc Anga, executive director of the International Cocoa Organization, said the industry had a choice: either cut the size of bars or raise prices. “It is clear we have entered a period of structural deficit,” said Mr Anga. Cocoa has hit near three-year highs of more than $3,000 a tonne. In theory this should lead to more supply and curb that voracious demand. But the world’s chocolate makers and traders feel that more far-reaching changes are needed to the market. Almost 90 per cent of the global cocoa supply of about 4m tonnes is sourced from smallholder farmers and in the past few years chocolate makers including Mars and Switzerland’s Barry Callebaut have warned of a 1m tonne supply deficit in 2020 if production is not increased.
JIFAN Lauds Government Interventions on Agriculture
The Jirapa Farmers Network (JIFAN) has recommended government’s interventions on agricultural development especially those tailored to help the rural poor farmer to increase production and productivity. The appreciation came after a zonal level durbars and reflection meetings on the challenges faced by farmers in accessing extension and other government support services by the over 5,000 members of the Network in collaboration with Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD-Ghana ) and with support from ActionAid Ghana. This was expressed through a communiqué issued and signed by Yakubu Karimu, President of the Network and Abdulai Arimiyao, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, CARD Ghana. The interventions appreciated by the farmers include the fertilizer subsidy programme, the tractor support services programme…
Nationwide Agriculture Census Soon
A nationwide census on agriculture is to be conducted to provide complete and reliable data to aid effective policy decisions. Ghana Statistical Service would undertake the activity together with Food and Agriculture Ministry and the funding would come from Food and Agriculture Organisation. A statement issued in Kumasi by Mr Emmanuel George Ossei, Ashanti Regional Statistician, said it would involve the collection, processing, publishing and dissemination of information on the structure of agriculture and the state of development in the rural areas. The data would be taken directly from households and other information from the communities, mainly on the geography, availability of basic facilities, socio-economic conditions, transport infrastructure, community services, potentials for development and constraints. In preparation towards this a “users and producers dialogue” would be held in Kumasi on Monday, June 23.
EPA Praised for Agriculture Development in Lawra District
The Chiefs and people of the Lawra Traditional area in the Upper West Region have lauded the efforts of the Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Nkegbe Asher for contributing immensely to agriculture and environmental development in the area. Mr. Nkegbe Asher, who was the Upper West Regional Director of the EPA and now in charge of the Upper East Region, was last year also honoured and named” LOGAR” after the founder of the Kanpuo community, for instilling in the people, good sustainable land management practices such as bonding, composting and non-bush burning, among others. In a citation, signed and read by the Paramount Chief of the Lawra Traditional area, Naa Puowele Karbo III, at this year’s Desertification Day held in the Lawra District, lauded Mr Asher for his integrated interventions approach to sustainable Land and Water Management in the area.
Two Companies Receive GhanaVeg Initiative Fund
Two horticultural companies have received a 50 per cent co-financing grant of GH¢ 200,000 as part of the GhanaVeg initiative. The companies are Eden Tree Limited and Tikola Limited. The initiative, which is worth Four million Euros over three years, seeks to help farmers to produce quality and healthy vegetables from Ghana through new and improved methods and also to commercialise vegetable production in the country. Ms Lilianne Ploumen, The Netherlands Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, speaking at the launch of a three business initiatives said, Ghana needs to have a competitive and strong agriculture and vegetable sector, which should be driven by quality products. The initiatives are aimed at developing and enhancing the production of quality vegetables. The initiative affords the opportunity to vegetable farmers in Ghana to benefit from The Netherland Embassy's support through GhanaVeg, to enable them boost production for both the domestic market and International market.
Simple Solutions Can Save Ghana’s Agricultural Sector
Successive governments in Ghana since the end of colonial rule have always trumpeted about the importance of the agric sector to the overall development of the nation and yet little is done to make agriculture the engine of growth. President Kwame Nkrumah and military dictator, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, are about the only leaders of this country who took realistic actions and implemented policies to make farming attractive and their policies really paid off as witnessed by Ghana’s export of rice in the 1970s. Ghana today is a leading importer of every food item one can think of including rice, tomatoes, plantain, and pepper. Obviously this country cannot produce every food item it needs, but it becomes worrying when we import tomatoes and plantain. President John Mahama has recognized this problem of huge importation of rice …
Religious Bodies Against Plant Breeders’ Bill!
On the 19th of June 2014 Faith-Based Organizations, in collaboration with Action Aid Ghana, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development and Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana with sponsorship from STAR-Ghana, met at the National Secretariat of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference to discuss the current debate on the Plant Breeders’ Bill and the Genetically Modified Organisms. The session brought together diverse Faith-Based Organizations including; Office of the National Chief Imam, National Catholic Secretariat, Federation of Muslim Women of Ghana, Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana Muslim Mission, Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, Religious Bodies Network for Climate Change, Marshallan Relief and Development Services and Ahlussuna Wal Jama’a. We hereby state that our position on the debate has become necessary due to the importance of agriculture in the Ghanaian economy and the negative implication of Plant Breeders’ Bill and GMOs to the Ghanaian food sovereignty.
Upper Manya Krobo District Agriculture Gets Support
A delegation from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has paid a working visit to Sutapong, in the Upper-Manya Krobo District, to explore possibilities of investing in agriculture processing and marketing. The visit followed Ghana News Agency (GNA) media reports about lack of markets for the produce of farmers in the area, due to deplorable roads as part of the GNA Media Auditing and Development Tracking project in the district which is sponsored by Star-Ghana. The team, led by the out-going Regional Minister, Mr Julius Debrah and his Deputy Ms Mavis Ama Frimpong, visited vegetable farms and interacted with the farmers to know their challenges. The farmers told the delegation that, their farm produce rot on the farms, because of the bad roads leading to the area, as a result of which commercial vehicle drivers do not want to ply the road.
Report/Articles
Agricultural Innovations Systems and Adoption Decision: Findings from a Study of Ghanaian Plantain Sector
WA Emmanuel1a, M Amare, H Waibel
The main objective of this study is to analyze social network and agricultural innovations development; and innovations systems and farm technology adoption linkages. The study uses a combination of Rapid Agricultural Appraisal Knowledge Systems and Social Network Analysis (SNA) to identify; map and analyze agricultural innovations system of plantain in Ghana. Second, we address the impact of the innovations systems on adoption of improved technologies through social network as a as proxy to determine how the agricultural innovations system affects adoption using data from plantain farmers and stakeholders of plantain innovations in 7 villages in the Brong Ahafo and Central regions of Ghana. The study showed that the innovations are generally weak in Ghana and observed although farmers are central through interactions they have little to no influence in the innovations system perspective. The overall adoption of improved farm technologies is low. Weak innovation system, short shelf life, taste and cooking texture are some of…
Agriculture and Private Sector Agriculture and Growth Evidence Paper Series
S Sahin, MP Prowse, N Weigh - 2014
Agriculture is and will continue to be critical to the futures of many developing countries. This may or may not be because agriculture can contribute directly and/or indirectly to economic growth. But it will certainly be critical because poverty is still predominantly a rural phenomenon and this looks set to remain for the next two decades at least….One body of theoretical and conceptual literature argues that the emergence of a dynamic private sector has been hampered by state bodies continuing to fulfil basic functions in agricultural markets. This has reduced incentives for the private sector to invest in market infrastructure and limited the potential for regional trade. This literature asserts that discretionary and unpredictable trade controls – such as import and export bans and ad hoc changes in tariffs – as well as direct state involvement in agricultural input and output markets, through price subsidies and parastatals, are most likely to product inefficient and inequitable outcomes as they distort market signals and incentives. The main argument is that the public sector cannot allocate resources optimally and state controls over production and marketing activities are prone to elite capture.
Migrant Farmers as Information brokers: Agroecosystem Management in Thetransition Zone of Ghana
ME Isaac, LCN Anglaaere, DS Akoto, E Dawoe - Ecology and Society, 2014
Environmentally induced farmer migration is an important livelihood strategy, yet little is known of the effects on the destination region agroecosystem information networks and management practices. In the forest savanna transition zone (Brong AhafoRegion) of Ghana, where migration from northern regions (migrant) and from neighboring regions (settler) is active, we chart the role of migrant famers and the type of agroecosystem management practices embedded in information networks using a social networks approach. Based on empirical network data from 44 respondents across three communities, we illustrate a diffuse information network, with variable tie frequency between settlement categories (local, settler, or migrant) of farmers…. At the individual level, migrant and settler farmers are more likely: (1) to have larger networks with more ties between members of their networks, (2) to be brokers positioned between non-migrant farmers, and …
Climate-adaptive Community Water Management for Food Security: Experiences from the UNDP Community Water Initiative
S Chen, K Davis - … of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture and Society, 2014
Facing the double menace of climate change and water crisis, poor communities are now encountering ever more severe challenges in ensuring agricultural productivity and food security. Hence, communitieshave to manage these challenges by adopting a comprehensive approach that not only enhances water resource management, but also adapts agricultural activities to climate variability. Implemented by the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme, the Community Water Initiative (CWI) has adopted a distinctive approach to support demand-driven, innovative, low cost and community-based water resource management for food security. Experiences from CWI show that a comprehensive, locally adapted approach that integrates water resources management, poverty reduction, climate adaptation and community empowerment provides a good model for sustainable development in poor rural areas.
Effect of Three Storage Methods on the Quality and Shelf-Life of White Yam (Dioscorea rotundata) Cultivars Pona and Tela
BK Maalekuu, JK Saajah, AK Addae - Journal of Agricultural Science, 2014
Postharvest losses especially at storage are a major challenge in yam production. Hence, the study was aimed to investigate and find out the suitable storage method which would minimize losses incurred during storage. A survey was conducted to assess the pre-storage treatments applied to yam, methods adopted for storage and farmers knowledge on postharvest losses. Effect of storage methods on major factors that initiate and cause losses and proximate analysis to determine the nutritional variation of White yam cultivars, Pona and Tela were also conducted before and after storage. The survey revealed, only few farmers (28%) apply agro-chemicals to their harvested tubers before storage. The most common storage method used by the respondents is the yam barn (60%). Burial (30%) and heaps on floor (10%) storage methods were also used depending on time of harvest. The respondents also estimated 4-40% as losses often incurred after harvest and in storage due to injuries (31%), pests (23%), weight loss (4%), sprout (21%) and decay (40%)….