From: Praise Nutakor (Mrs)
Human beings depend greatly on grains for
subsistence. Grains are man’s source of food and grains are agricultural
products. Man does not live on grains alone but on other foods like vegetables,
meats and fish to make his meals more palatable. Like grains, these other foods
come from the soil, which have to be grown with great care.
Agriculture is the major source of food and the major component of household expenditure. Aside being man’s main food, it also serves as his source of wealth. The cocoa, rubber tree and the oil-palm bring millions of cedis to man and the nation as a whole. The agriculture sector also provides the greater number of employments to many people, especially those in the rural settings of the country.
Ghana’s agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy, and smallholder farmers represent about 80 percent of the total agricultural production in the country. However, despite the important role and economic growth the sector plays in man’s livelihood and in the country’s economic development, a lot of these smallholder farmers seem to be living below the poverty line.
In order to complement the Ghana Government’s efforts to help millions of these small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a non- governmental organization, is working to increase the productivity, profitability and sustainability of these small farms.
AGRA’s programs and partnerships target major obstacles faced by Ghana’s smallholder farmers through improving farmers’ access to good seed, fertilizer, and sustainable farming practices; to credit; to crop storage; to markets; and to strong farmer-based organizations.
AGRA is five years in its supportive role to helping ensure food security in Ghana and Africa as a whole. As part of activities marking the event, AGRA is organising a national consultative forum titled “Ghana Agricultural Investment Forum” on Thursday, 24th May, 2012 at Alisa Hotel.
With the aim of working to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability of small farms across the agricultural value chain, AGRA is organizing this forum to provide the platform for key government officials, relevant donor partners, actors along the value chain, the private sector and the media to deliberate on how to effectively operationalize African Green Revolution in Ghana and also to discuss Ghana’s readiness to implement a full-scale agricultural green revolution.
AGRA believes that Ghana has the potential to transform its smallholder farming into a commercially viable and sustainable enterprise and is therefore strengthening smallholder agriculture in the country’s potential “breadbaskets.”
In the northern region, for instance, farmers grow 66 percent of the country’s rice and AGRA is supporting these smallholder farmers with the necessary resources to help transform Ghana into an exporter of rice, and free up US$500 million now spent on rice imports. AGRA is also helping private seed companies which multiply and disseminate soybean, sorghum, maize, rice and groundnut to resource-poor farmers in northern Ghana and other areas.
Also, among its numerous contributions to the sector, is the support to the over 2,200 agro-dealers and 150 seed producers across the regions in the country to increase the availability of agro-inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers for about 850,000 smallholder farmers.
AGRA also established and supports the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, Legon, a PhD program to offer training to young scientists. The NGO is also supporting an MSc program in seed science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
The Ghana Agricultural Investment Forum, AGRA believe will offer the requisite platform for all stakeholders to dialogue on Ghana’s agricultural strategies and to discuss Ghana’s readiness to achieve food sufficiency. The outcome of this forum will complement the efforts of government and all the other actors along the value chain to help improve on the lives of the smallholder farmer and the country’s economic development as a whole.
Agriculture is the major source of food and the major component of household expenditure. Aside being man’s main food, it also serves as his source of wealth. The cocoa, rubber tree and the oil-palm bring millions of cedis to man and the nation as a whole. The agriculture sector also provides the greater number of employments to many people, especially those in the rural settings of the country.
Ghana’s agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy, and smallholder farmers represent about 80 percent of the total agricultural production in the country. However, despite the important role and economic growth the sector plays in man’s livelihood and in the country’s economic development, a lot of these smallholder farmers seem to be living below the poverty line.
In order to complement the Ghana Government’s efforts to help millions of these small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a non- governmental organization, is working to increase the productivity, profitability and sustainability of these small farms.
AGRA’s programs and partnerships target major obstacles faced by Ghana’s smallholder farmers through improving farmers’ access to good seed, fertilizer, and sustainable farming practices; to credit; to crop storage; to markets; and to strong farmer-based organizations.
AGRA is five years in its supportive role to helping ensure food security in Ghana and Africa as a whole. As part of activities marking the event, AGRA is organising a national consultative forum titled “Ghana Agricultural Investment Forum” on Thursday, 24th May, 2012 at Alisa Hotel.
With the aim of working to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability of small farms across the agricultural value chain, AGRA is organizing this forum to provide the platform for key government officials, relevant donor partners, actors along the value chain, the private sector and the media to deliberate on how to effectively operationalize African Green Revolution in Ghana and also to discuss Ghana’s readiness to implement a full-scale agricultural green revolution.
AGRA believes that Ghana has the potential to transform its smallholder farming into a commercially viable and sustainable enterprise and is therefore strengthening smallholder agriculture in the country’s potential “breadbaskets.”
In the northern region, for instance, farmers grow 66 percent of the country’s rice and AGRA is supporting these smallholder farmers with the necessary resources to help transform Ghana into an exporter of rice, and free up US$500 million now spent on rice imports. AGRA is also helping private seed companies which multiply and disseminate soybean, sorghum, maize, rice and groundnut to resource-poor farmers in northern Ghana and other areas.
Also, among its numerous contributions to the sector, is the support to the over 2,200 agro-dealers and 150 seed producers across the regions in the country to increase the availability of agro-inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers for about 850,000 smallholder farmers.
AGRA also established and supports the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, Legon, a PhD program to offer training to young scientists. The NGO is also supporting an MSc program in seed science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
The Ghana Agricultural Investment Forum, AGRA believe will offer the requisite platform for all stakeholders to dialogue on Ghana’s agricultural strategies and to discuss Ghana’s readiness to achieve food sufficiency. The outcome of this forum will complement the efforts of government and all the other actors along the value chain to help improve on the lives of the smallholder farmer and the country’s economic development as a whole.
No comments:
Post a Comment