By Wisdom JONNY-NUEKPE
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) have been applauded for their partnership to boost agriculture productivity in the country.
At the 5th wrap up meeting, organized by the FSRP Ghana in collaboration with FSRP ECOWAS in Accra, key stakeholders from the West Africa sub region commended key implementation strategies adopted by MoFA and FSRP Ghana.
Speaking at the conference which was attended by some 50 participants from ECOWAS in Accra, Chief Technical Advisor for (MoFA), Kwasi Etu Bonde, emphasised the importance of transitioning Ghana to irrigation-based agriculture.
He lauded the gains made by the FSRP in the quest to boost crop production through mechanized farming and irrigation.
The quest by the FSRP to deepen irrigation, according to Mr Bonde, would enable year-round farming and encourage youth participation in the sector.
Indeed, just about 30,000 hectares of Ghana’s irrigable land is under irrigation.
However, imminent plans by the FSRP to rollout irrigation schemes across the country, would change the narration from rain-fed agriculture to irrigation-based agriculture.
“With this, farmers can cultivate all year round, to ensure food security in the country,” Mr Bonde stated.
He said the FSRP and MoFA have also done tremendously well in boosting poultry production, through engaging with anchor farmers as part of strategies to cut poultry imports.
The Wrap Up meeting
As an initiative which is part of a World Bank-funded project aimed at strengthening food systems and boosting agricultural productivity across West Africa, the aim of the wrap up meeting, was to draw lessons and consolidate the coordination of regional and national activities and to promote cross-learning and creation of synergies between FSRP stakeholders.
Background to the FSRP
ECOWAS and the World Bank Group, having identified common natural and social phenomena which impede food production and distribution in the sub region (like floods, droughts, the spread of pests, livestock diseases, pandemics and civil wars), have found it expedient to coordinate efforts among its member nations to strengthen food system risk management in the sub region.
This is being carried out across the region, through the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP).
The programme’s development objective is “to increase preparedness against food insecurity and build resilience of food systems in participating countries”. Participating countries include Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sierra Leone, and Senegal.
In line with this, FSRP, which in Ghana is being driven through MoFA, the Ministry is rolling out a combination of adaptive, innovative and sustainable interventions to arm vulnerable households, families, farmers and communities to withstand uncertainty and shocks in food production and distribution in the sub-region. FSRP Ghana is focusing primarily on the intensified production, marketing and consumption of wholesome rice, maize, broiler poultry, soybeans and tomatoes.
