The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in collaboration with the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has disclosed a training workshop to enhance the capacities of selected lead farmers, public and private agricultural extension agents on the agroecology principles and concepts to enhance service delivery.
Agroecology is a system where traditional knowledged farmers’ practices and the science of ecological principles are applied to the food systems. It includes socio-cultural and economic practices such as organic farming and regenerative agriculture to contribute to sustainable development.
Mr. Kingsley Kwasi Agyemang, the National Correspondent of the ECOWAS Agroecology in Ghana, speaking during an interview on the sidelines of the three-day training at Amanchia in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of Ashanti Region said the Ministry was poised to provide the enabling environment for agroecology transitioning.
According to Mr. Agyemeng, if farmers were to use natural resources to generate and process fertilizers, the case of the Russian-Ukraine War, hikes in prices of inputs would not have affected production and productivity.
Elaborating on the progress of the Programme which began in 2022 in Ghana, Mr. Agyemeng indicated that it had developed an action plan and charter for National Consultation Framework on Agroecology in Ghana (NCFA-GH), and that the plan outlines a five-year strategy for action.
With optimisn, Mr. Agyemang averred that the training would better position agricultural extension agents and lead farmers to generate relevant information and data on agroecology practices.
Mr. Bismark Nortey, Programmes Officer for PFAG, said in opting for a more sustainable way of farming, agroecology had been identified as one of the ways to deal with the negative effects of climate change, increasing cost of agricultural inputs and ensuring food sovereignty production good and nutritious food.
“This was why the Association was continuously building capacities of farmers to understand the principles of the farming practices, adopt and contribute to increased food productivity.”
Mr. Bismark Nortey
Dr. Kofi Boa, Director and Founder for Center for No Till Agriculture, exposed participants to both theoretical and practical hands-on training including principles guiding agroecology, on-farm water harvesting, integrating livestock farming, cultivation of varieties plantation crops (ensuring diversification).
He emphasized the need for farmers to carry out such activities in agricultural production, especially the use of water harvesting during the dry season.
Significance of Agroecology Workshop Training
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) from its observations noted that very few smallholder farmers ever see an extension agent, and women have the fewest opportunities to access innovative and up-to-date agricultural knowledge. National economies have made farmers increasingly dependent on agrochemical dealers for information.
Limited support for peer-to-peer learning about agroecology has thus led to a loss of local crop varieties and animal breeds, soil degradation and biodiversity loss, which in turn erode smallholder productivity.
The training workshop, as reported by the ministry of food and agriculture, seeks to assist beneficiaries who were drawn from all regions across Ghana to work closely with farmers to educate and guide to boost agricultural activities.
The Training workshop, being funded by French Development Agency (AFD) and European Union (EU), forms part of the MoFA’s ECOWAS Agroecology Programme in Ghana and PFAG’s drive to promote agroecology which aims at transforming sub-Regional agriculture in the face of a rapid growing population, natural resources degradation, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, climate change and addressing nutritional security.
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