Below are some current developments on Agriculture in Africa:
Agricultural Issues
SEND-Ghana Supports Farmers
SEND-Ghana, a social intervention non-governmental organization, has supported selected smallholder farmers in the Nanumba North, East Gonja and the Kpandai districts with more than GH₵48,000 to improve their livelihoods. Some credit unions in the beneficiary districts would disburse the funds to ensure easy repayment for it to serve as a revolving facility. Mr. Wekem Raymond Avatim, Director for Livelihoods and Food Security Development of SEND-Ghana, said 1,081 male and female farmers would receive support but the amount per individual would be dependent on farm size. At a ceremony to allocate the funds to the credit unions, at Kpandai, Mr. Avatim said the support was under the Food Security through Co-operatives in Northern Ghana (FOSTERING) project of SEND-Ghana. FOSTERING is being run on a total budget of….
Meet the World’s Best Cocoa Farmer
Opanyin Abraham Kwaku Adusei, the man who just made Ghana proud at the recently held International Cocoa Conference (ICCO) in Amsterdam, Netherland, owns over 400 acres of cocoa farms situated at Osiem and Elubo in the Eastern and Western Region, respectively…Some say farming doesn’t pay well and that it’s just a waste of a person’s life. Others say it’s a job for the illiterate but I beg to differ because I have been in farming throughout my life and trust me when I say that farming pays very well”. Opanyin Adusei describes his intense desire and passion for farming as something he grew up with while staying with his parents. “I had parents who had extreme zeal for farming. My parents used to send my siblings and me (10 in number) to the farm. They consistently told us that the best way for anybody to make life comfortable for his or herself was through entrepreneurship. For them farming was the key,” he recalled.
The GMO debate: Scientific Evidence versus Common Sense
A Genetically Modified (GM) food debate saw proponents of the technology basing their argument on scientific evidence whiles opponents based theirs on what they referred to as common sense. Scientists on the panel insisted that the biotechnology of which GM was a sub-set have been scientifically proven to be safe for humans and came with better yield while the opponents said issues of food were rather based on common sense. The debate preceded the Sixth African Nutrition and Epidemiology Conference organized by the Africa Nutrition Society (ANS). The conference was to provide a forum for African region cross-learning on moving the food and nutrition security agenda in a sustainable manner at the country level, explore ingredients for success and address some existing challenges.
National Service to Improve Food Security
The National Service Scheme (NSS) is accelerating efforts to improve food security in the country through a number of agricultural interventions. The scheme, as a result, is focusing on its activities at its Ejura Maize Farm in the Ejura Municipality in the Ashanti Region. The farm, which was begun in 2010, produces about 30,000 bags of maize each harvest season. The NSS maize farm occupies a land area of about 1,000 acres and its sole purpose is to supplement the government’s efforts at ensuring food security in the Ashanti Region and the country as a whole. Through the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools, the scheme has supplied various senior high schools throughout the country with about 80 per cent of its maize produce.
GEPA Initiates Move to Support Producers and Exporters
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) says it has initiated moves to help producers and exporters of agricultural produce acquire Global Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) certification. The GAP certification would make it possible for local exporting companies to export their produce to any part of the world. Currently, most of the local farmers who feed the exporting companies do not have that certification, posing a threat to the chances of local exporters having continued access to the external markets… “There is a project that is underway between GEPA and partnership funding from Canada on how we can assist our producers to get certification, and I think that some organizations have been identified in the pipeline in terms of those that can be supported,” he said.
Women Invest Profit in Businesses
Women in the Vea community in the Bongo District have shared GH¢ 9,161 they realized from their savings for 2013 to undertake farming and income generating activities. The women, constituting five groups of 75 women, received various sums that ranged between GH¢ 200 and GH¢ 50. The initiative was under the Integrated Community Empowerment Programme (INCOME) initiated by Trade Aid a non-governmental organization. An amount of GH¢ 844 was also realized from their social fund designed by the women to support members in times of emergency especially when a member or child is sick and requires financial assistance. For 2013, the group realized GH¢ 1,000 from interest on loans.
IMANI Field Report: An Idea for New Ministers of Agric and Fisheries: Private Money for Fosu Lagoon Landing Port
The fishing sector in Ghana has morphed through a series of stages, albeit it has a rather static growth and contribution towards the national purse. It has been considered at least over the last decade or two as one of the sub-sectors in the agricultural industry that has a potential of creating jobs, helping government raise revenue for development, and most importantly, mitigating poverty along our coastal communities. Plans to develop and establish fishing harbours or landing sites along our coastal communities have been unearthed every now and then but see “no concrete” implementation… A critical economic analysis, pinpoints the enormous benefits that will accrue to the country if the right models for developing the Fosu Lagoon and other natural seaside resources are instituted.
‘Biotechnology in Africa’ Book Launched
A book on biotechnology in agriculture dubbed ‘Biotechnology in Africa – Emergence, Initiatives and Future’ has been launched in Accra. The 288-page book, which is a collection of papers from African scientists based purely on their experiences with the use of biotechnology in agriculture in different parts of the continent, was edited by Florence Wambugu and Daniel Kamanga of the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya. The book comes at a time when the debate on the safety of biotechnology has heightened, particularly with the advent of the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture production…. In his foreword in the book, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, a renowned scientist, said “Many of the essays capture the fact that globally, the number of countries that cultivate genetically modified (GM) crops continues to increase;…
10 AGRA Sponsored Students Graduate with PhD
Ten West African students sponsored by the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have graduated with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Plant Breeding. They were trained at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana. They include Vivian Oduro, Allen Oppong and Ruth Thompson (Ghana), Alhassan Usman and Beatrice Elohor Ifie (Nigeria), and Adama Coulibaly (Niger).nnOthers are Abdalla Dao and Traore Edgar (Burkina Faso) and Sako Dramane and Goita Oumarou of Mali. They are part of the post-graduate students of the University of Ghana, who graduated, at a congregation held on Saturday in Accra. The graduants specialised on breeding African crops that are of great importance to the African people
NGO Supports Credit Unions and Farmers
END-Ghana, a pro-poor social intervention non-governmental organization, has supported some smallholder farmers in the Nanumba North, East Gonja and the Kpandai districts with GH?48, 6405. The amount was disbursed through credit unions operating in the beneficiary districts to ensure easy retrieval of the loans. Mr. Wekem Raymond Avatim, Director for Livelihoods and Food Security Development of SEND-Ghana , said the credit facilities were being given to the credit unions to disburse to the farmers based on their farm sizes and that some 1,081 farmers were benefiting. At a ceremony to disburse the funds at Kpandai on Wednesday, Mr. Avatim said the support was under the Food Security through Co-operatives in Northern Ghana (FOSTERING) project, which had a total budget of 8,032,149 Canadian dollars, part of which is …
Cape Coast Palm Kernel Oil Makers Cry for Help
A friend of mine angrily argued with me that the palm tree was only useful for the production of alcohol (abɛ nsa). Obviously his love for the liquor had made him blind to the uncountable uses of the palm tree. To convince him, I decided to school him on other areas where the palm tree could be useful; and they including “palm kernel oil.” Apart from palm oil, which is invariably one of the major products of the palm tree, palm kernel oil is another product that has been extracted from the palm tree for many centuries. According to www.livestrong.com, palm kernel oil is primarily composed of fatty triglycerides, with approximately 80 per cent saturated fats and 20 per cent unsaturated fats.
Tomato Price Inches Up, Others Fairly Stable
At the back of slight increases in the price of tomatoes in most markets, the EGCI-W and EGCI-R indexes inched up in the week ending July 25. The wholesale index closed the week at 24334 points, from the previous week’s closing of 23575, whilst the retail index closed the week at 27538 points, from the previous week’s closing of 27230. Generally, most commodity prices in most markets were stable. Last week, prices had gone up at the back of transportation fare increases. The GNA Market Watch team observed that in Tamale and also in Accra on Friday, July 25, the price change was mixed. In the Tamale Metropolis, prices of some commodities remained unchanged, while others fell from last week’s (July 18) closing price. For example, the price of yam in the Tamale Metropolis fell marginally while that of groundnuts increased in the…
Not on Our plates! Why Nigeria Does Not Need GM Food
The disclosure by the National Agricultural Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) that Nigerian government is working to fast track the adoption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) at a press conference in Abuja (17 July 2014) is shocking for a number of reasons. The agency’s pitch is more or less that if the doors are not officially open to GMOs Nigerians will be consuming them without knowing. The truth is that there are GMO products illegally in Nigeria and the government ought to be protecting the citizens rather than closing the doors on the Precautionary Principle which as the name implies urges caution in matters of this nature. The Agency claims the there are enough safeguards in place for the introduction of GMOs into Nigeria.
President Mahama Promises Sustainable Funding for Climate Change
President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday announced that government is exploring ways of carrying out sustainable surveillance on the emergence of climate change and environmental degradation. He said the surveillance would also be backed by sustainable means of acquiring funding, to propel the policies by mobilizing resources from all the necessary avenues to execute the agenda. President Mahama said this when he launched the National Climate Change Policy and National Environment Policy in Accra, as one of the measures Ghana was taking in reaction to the global challenge of climate change and environmental degradation. The National Climate Change Policy, which has been prepared and designed within the context of national sustainable development, is Ghana's integrated response to climate change, and will provide a clearly…
Global Plans of Action Endorsed to Halt Escalating Soil Degradation
Government representatives and experts meeting at the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, on Thursday endorsed global plans of action to halt the escalating degradation of soils. They warned that urgent action is required to improve the health of the world's limited soil resources, and stop land degradation, so as to ensure that future generations have enough supplies of food, water, energy and raw materials. The Global Soil Partnership has endorsed a series of action plans at its on-going plenary Assembly in Rome, to safeguard soil resources which provide the basis for global agricultural production. A statement issued by Peter Mayer of the FAO Media Relations in Rome and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said recommendations include the implementation of strong regulations and corresponding investments by governments for the…
Forest Fringe Communities Undergo Training on Bee-keeping
A day’s training workshop to build the capacity of forest fringe communities on bee-keeping has been held at Bibiani in the Western Region. The programme, financed by the European Union (EU), and held under the auspices of the Working Group on Forest Certification, Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), is aimed at empowering the beneficiaries to enhance their livelihood. This is expected to whip up their interest and participation in the Ghana-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) implementation to engender good forest management and governance. Mr. Emmanuel Amoah Boakye, the Project Coordinator, said the workshop targeted fringe communities in the Bibiani, Sefwi-Wiawso and Juaboso forest districts. While the VPA is largely anticipated to impact meaningfully on sustainable forest management, it has potential…
Reports/Articles
Cashew Cultivation, Access to Land and Food Security in Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana: Preventing the Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty
R Evans, S Mariwah, KB Antwi - 2014
This research aimed to investigate the implications of changing agricultural land use from food production towards increased cashew cultivation for food security and poverty alleviation in Jaman North District, Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. Based on qualitative, participatory research with a total of 60 participants, the research found that increased cashew production had led to improvements in living standards for many farmers and their children over recent years. Global demand for cashew is projected to continue to grow rapidly in the immediate future and cashew growing areas of Ghana are well placed to respond to this demand. Cashew farmers however were subject to price fluctuations in the value of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) due to unequal power relations with intermediaries and export buyer companies and global markets, …..
A New Theory of Change in African Agriculture
AA Adekunle, AO Fatunbi - Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 2014
The low productivity of Africa agriculture has received considerable attention of researchers, policymakers and development agencies in recent past. The different problems confronting the growth and productivity of agriculture is rooted in the way agricultural research and development activities are conducted. The conventional linear method solely embraces the generation of technologies by researchers and its transfer to farmers through the extension agent. This method is limited in its stakeholder’s engagement and often leads to generation of technologies that may not easily translate to meaningful socio-economic benefits due to
limitations by institutional issues. Apparently, a model that could harmonizes technological, institutional and infrastructural issues in agriculture would generate useful socio-economic benefits and impact.
Food Commodity Price Volatility and Policy in Light of Africa’s Agricultural Transformation
A Sarris - … presented at the annual GDN Conference Accra Ghana, 2014
The paper first reviews several issues relevant to global food commodity market volatility as it pertains to food security, and food importing developing countries, and then discusses international and national policies and measures to prevent or manage this volatility and related risks. It is shown that market volatility relates to unpredictability of market fundamentals, and price spikes occur when unpredictability increases excessively. The food security risks faced by food import developing countries are discussed and it is highlighted that the major risks involve not only large and unpredictable price variations but also trade finance as well as import contract enforcement. The problem of identifying a price spike is analyzed and it is seen that, despite difficulties in commodity modeling, there are empirical techniques that allow the assessment of…
Response of Okra to Different Irrigation and Fertilization Methods in the Keta Sand Spit of Southeast Ghana
EO Danso - 2014
The sandy soil in the Keta Sand Spit, Southeast Ghana is infertile but is used for intensive vegetable cultivation. The vegetable production systems are managed with large amounts of irrigation water and fertilizers on sandy soils with low inherent water and nutrient retention capacities. The long term sustainability of a shallow groundwater lens which is used for irrigation in the area is threatened by several consecutive years of over withdrawal. Also, the shallow groundwater which is the primary irrigation water resource is prone to salinization from the Keta Lagoon, the Atlantic Ocean and brackish water underneath. There is excess input of phosphorus into the soil, through the continuous application of animal manure as the sole plant nutrient over the years. To ensure the sustainability of vegetable production at the Keta Spit, introduction of….