Below are some current developments on Agriculture in Africa:
Agricultural Issues
Symposium for GMOs Adoption in Accra
A policy symposium on the need to collate views to push forward the adoption of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) by Ghana was held in Accra on Wednesday. The symposium was on the theme; “Accepting or Not Accepting GMOs; implications for sustainable food production in Ghana.” Organized by Developing Research Uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa, ISSER, DFID, Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, (MOFA). It attracted scientists, research analysts in the area of food and agriculture. The symposium which was meant to discuss issues both for and against GMO saw only majority of participants who are in support of GMO taking part. Dr Hans Adu Dapaah, Former Director Crops Research Institute (CRI) said there is no credible evidence that GM foods are more harmful than non-GM foods.
Ghana Develops GM cowpea
Ghana has successfully developed a genetically modified cowpea (beans), referred to as Bt cowpea. Developed by the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) at Nyankpala in the Northern Region, the Bt cowpea will be the first GM crop/food to be introduced in Ghana. It is resistant to the Maruca pod borer, an insect/pest that destroys the conventional type of cowpea, the 'Songotra ' thereby causing farmers to lose substantial portions of their investment/income. SARI, which is implementing the Bt cowpea project in the country, is to embark on the multiplication of the seeds of the Bt cowpea in commercial quantities next year for distribution to farmers for planting in the three northern regions.
Food Sovereignty of Ghana Cautions Against GMO’s
Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG), a food advocacy organisation, on Tuesday noted that there are unrelenting attempts to impose genetically modified organisms (GMOs) food on Ghanaians. It said the Plant Breeders Bill (PBB) suffered a setback in Parliament, due to the robust workings of Ghanaian democracy. “However, powerful foreign governments, multinational corporations and foundations, big Agribusiness, still want the bill passed. “They have not stopped their efforts to force the PBB through Parliament and force their GMO seeds onto Ghanaians. They have too much money at stake. Europe and even the United States are turning against GMOs. Forcing GMOs on Ghana and all of Africa is necessary for their financial survival, not for our survival.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Urged to Eliminate Agric Export Subsidies
African Ministers of Trade have called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to eliminate all forms of agricultural export subsidies. That, they said, should be done by abiding by the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration and the Bali Ministerial Decision which gave utmost consideration to prioritise these issues for the post-Bali work programme. The trade ministers made the call in an eight-page communiqué after the 9th African Union Conference of Trade Ministers that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from December 4 to December 5, this year. With specific reference to WTO issues on agriculture, the ministers restated their call for the “correction of the systemic imbalances on agriculture through which distortions in the global markets continue to undermine Africa’s potential economic gains encapsulated in Africa’s comparative advantage.”
Vegetable Industry Worth US$25m Per Annum
The economy can earn over US$25 million in a year from vegetable exports. This can be achieved if the government and other relevant state institutions support players in the sector increase production, improve product quality and meet external market requirements, a report by GhanaVeg, a non-governmental organisation committed to the success of the industry, has stated. The support is needed to increase annual output of the crops whose demand is on the rise in Europe and Asia where climatic conditions make it unfavourable for year-round cultivation, the report, which was presented to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, noted…. "Vegetable crops are high-value crops. You need only a small area of land to grow crops that will fetch so much money compared to growing say cereal or legume crops. It is one of the areas that a lot more efforts should be put into," …
Tono and Vea Irrigation Shut down, Tomatoes Affected
More than 6,000 farmers in the upper East Region will not be able to undertake dry season farming using the Tono and Vea irrigation dams this season. This is because the two dams have been shut down as the water they contain has reached dead storage level. Consequently, there is a clear possibility of low tomato supply early next year, since a good percentage of tomatoes and other vegetables in the Region are produced from those two irrigation facilities. The impact of the closure would also directly affect farmers in 18 communities in the Kassena-Nankana and Bolgatanga Municipalities. They, as well as other farmers who usually move from other locations to the irrigation areas during the dry season to cultivate vegetables, would lose revenue because they cannot carry out dry season farming.
Farmers in Bolgatanga to get Support for Dry Season Farming
The Climate Change Adaptation in Northern Ghana Enhanced (CHANGE Project) implemented by Trade Aid Integrated, a Bolgatanga based non-governmental organization on Tuesday urged its beneficiary farmers to go into dry season farming as it had funds to support them. Mr. Nicholas Apokera, Executive Director of Trade Aid, said 231 farmers were supported under the CHANGE Project with GH¢62,630.00 from the Naara Rural Bank in Bolgatanga but not all the fund was exhausted so they could still make good use of it during this dry season. He said this at a forum that brought together beneficiary farmers of CHANGE Project, Agricultural Extension staff, input suppliers, financial institutions, staff of the Meteorological Services Department and National Disaster Management Organization to share ideas on the project and ways to improve on future interventions.
Farmers Advised to go into Agro-forestry
Mr. Ishmael Hashmiu, a Post-Masters Research Fellow, Social Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability (STEPS) Centre, has advised farmers to inter-crop food crops with agro-forest species. This, he said, would enable them reap multiple gains. He however advised the farmers to be careful about their choices during cultivation and look out for species that are compatible and complement their food crops in order to prevent negative competition. Mr. Hashmiu gave the advice when he spoke at a seminar dubbed: “The Political Ecology of Carbon in Africa Project,” in Accra. The day’s seminar organised by STEPS Centre in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex in the United Kingdom brought together stakeholders to share lessons from the political the Ecology of Carbon in Africa’ Project, ….
Soil Degradation Costs African Farmers $68bn Yearly
Soil degradation holds back African farmers, costing them $68 billion annually and threatening to stall vital food production, Sir Gordon Conway, Director of the group Agriculture for Impact and a professor at Imperial College London, said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Thursday. “The problem is certainly getting worse,” Sir Gordon Conway said. “Poor farmers don’t have the money, time or labour to prevent degradation or improve their soils,” Conway said. “If they don’t have land tenure, there is no incentive to invest in improving their farms…. An estimated 180 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are affected by land degradation, according to the report “No Ordinary Matter: Conserving, restoring and enhancing Africa’s soils” launched by Conway and other experts.
Seeds Sector Needs Policy Push-Farmer
Ghana urgently needs a policy to promote the production of improved hybrid seeds for the agricultural sector to thrive, Mr. Ben Kemetse, a farmer has said. Mr. Kemetse who produces and distributes seeds with the assistance of Alliance for A Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, following a trip to out-grower and small scale farmers’ fields and processing facilities in an around Ho, by some representatives of AGRA. AGRA seeks to introduce innovative technologies to improve the work of small scale farmers in Africa to upscale their activities, maximize incomes and overcome poverty, a representative of the Alliance explained the GNA. The Alliance has nothing to do with Genetically Modified seeds. Mr. Kemetse said he was on the verge of quitting the improved hybrid seeds production in 2009 but AGRA threw him a life-line with a grant of …
East Africa Team Tours Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR ) Learning Site
A 12 Member team from East Africa have undertaken a three day learning tour to the World Vision Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR ) Project sites at Talensi and Kassena Nankana West Districts of the Upper East Region. The Team, which was made up of World Vision’s East Africa Staff included Programme Officers, FMNR Managers and Government Officials from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and ADP Committee Members from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The FMNR Project, which was started by World Vision Ghana (WVG) in communities in the Talensi District in 2009, is now a learning centre of excellence for organizations. The FMNR is an ecological restoration project and involves selecting and pruning stems regenerating from stumps of naturally grown trees on the field, to give fewer ones more space to grow.
Fire Destroys Organic Farm, Food Silos
Fire destroyed a silo packed with farm produce worth over a 100,000 Ghana Cedis and a one hectare teak plantation at Gbiligu near Walewale in the Northern Region last Friday. Stored in the silo were harvested farm produce including rice, soya beans and maize harvested during the past five weeks from the Gbiligu Organic Farm. Speaking at the site of the destruction, Mr. Franz Zemp, an agronomist in charge of the Farm said even though he did not know how the fire started, he suspected that the harmattan winds must have driven bush fire towards the teak plantation near the silo, making it very easy for the place to go ablaze as the trees were dry. The blaze could not be controlled by the farm workers and thus spread on to engulf the silo.
Food Security/Crisis
The Agriculture Future We Want
Ghana marked the 30th edition of National Farmers Day on December 5, 2014, in honour of 70 hardworking farmers and fisher folk. In 1985, when the maiden edition was held at Osino, Eastern Region, a bicycle was the highest prize. Now award winners take very ‘appetizing’ prizes such as a three-bedroom house in acknowledgment of the contribution of farmers and fisher folk to the economy of Ghana… Food security is high on the agenda of the AU because though Africa currently accounts for about 25 per cent of the world’s fertile lands and 50 per cent of the world’s unused fertile lands, 300 million people suffer from hunger in sub-Saharan Africa. The AU considers the role of the youth who constitute about 60 per cent of the unemployed population as critical to changing the situation and ensuring agriculture-led growth.
New Fish Technology launched to Ensure Food Security
A new technology, the FAO-Thiaroye Technique (FTT), that ensures good sanitation practices and prevents chemical patterns not conducive to PAH control in fish smoking has been launched in Accra. The technology which is in the form of an oven produces minimal heat and has an oil collector that has been developed to meet standards of the European Union (EU) market. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has described the technology as one that will ensure food security.
Reports/Article
The Changing Landscape of Agriculture in Ghana Drivers of Farm Mechanization and Its Impacts on Cropland Expansion and Intensification
DSGD, & PIM Discussion Paper Nazaire Houssou Antony Chapoto
Recently, policymakers and private actors have stepped up investments in mechanization, demonstrating a strong faith in the potential of mechanical power to maintain or raise farm production and productivity in many countries in Africa south of the Sahara. This study assesses whether the recent public and private efforts to improve farmers’ access to mechanical power in Ghana have had the intended effects on the country’s agricultural sector. Using panel survey data, this paper analyses the drivers of farm mechanization and its net impacts on cropland expansion and farming system intensification in northern Ghana. Several factors explain the use and use intensity of agricultural mechanization, including landholding size, total labor and fertilizer use per hectare, chemical use, and amount of land left fallow. More importantly, the results suggest that farm mechanization did have a positive impact on cropland expansion during the survey period. The results presented here support the existence of a labor substitution effect resulting from tractor use. However, there is no evidence of increasing farm input use
Deciding to Urban-Migrate and Agricultural Development: Evidence from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCC)-Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) Intervention Zones, Ghana
EEA Mochiah, RD Osei, IO Akoto - Modern Economy, 2014
The decision to migrate involves both “push” and “pull” factors. Push factors forces migrants out of rural areas while pull factors attracts rural folks to the urban areas. The information set which displays the realities on the ground, if positive will motivate a potential migrant to move to an urban area and vice versa. Movement of labour for agriculture in the rural areas decreases resources needed to help promote the needed growth in the sector. With a sample size of 46,110 household members from two batches (about 3000 farmers/households for each batch) of selected farmers who enjoyed agricultural interventions (technology), a probit model is estimated to find the factors that influence the decision to urban-migrate. In particular we discuss the question of whether the MiDA intervention through the training of farmers on various techniques/technologies to be more productive, has had an impact on…
Climate Change Adaptation Policy in Ghana: Priorities for the Agriculture Sector
C Sova, A Chaudhury, W Nelson, DK Nutsukpo… - 2014
This report is intended to complement the 2011 CCAFS publication “State of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Efforts for Agriculture in Ghana” (Domozoro 2011). It provides relevant updates regarding the policies, projects, or initiatives introduced therein, and an assessment of the evolving political scenario. Specifically, this document presents an objective look at 17 key policy documents within three thematic areas: (1) governance, (2) agriculture, and (3) climate change institutions in Ghana. Several key projects are also included in this analysis given their relevance and status within Ghana’s agricultural adaptation regime. A discussion of the institutional arrangements in each of the thematic areas is provided first, along with a short description of each of the 17 policies and projects. Then, in the following analysis section, objectives and priorities for each of the policies are outlined, together with their evolution over time, intending to identify the temporal shifts in agricultural climate change policy direction in the country
Effect of Rainfall Variability on the Length of the Crop Growing Period over the Past Three Decades in Central Malawi
L Fiwa, E Vanuytrecht, KA Wiyo, D Raes - Clim Res, 2014
The present study investigates the trends of onset, cessation and length of growing period in central Malawi, critical for crop management decisions. These factors are especially important for the smallholder agricultural systems that predominantly depend on rainfall as in most parts of semi-arid southern African countries, such as the central region of Malawi. Onset identification was based on rainfall accumulation, while cessation was based on daily analysis of the ratio of actual to reference crop evapotranspiration. The length of the growing period for a particular season was obtained from the difference between the onset and cessation of that particular season. Series of 30 years of historical daily climatic data (1980 to 2009) from 5 meteorological stations within the central region of Malawi were considered….