Agroecology practices, a sustainable farming system that employs no-tillage practices and uses organic fertilizer can ensure sustainable food production to guarantee food security for the African continent.
It is one of the surests avenues to address the challenges of natural resource degradation, biodiversity loss and impact of climate change, including pest and diseases, erratic rainfall, flooding and drought.
Mr Kingsley Kwasi Agyemang, the National Correspondent of the ECOWAS Agroecology in Ghana, said this at a national policy dialogue held in Accra to discuss strategies to promote agroecology farming.
The European Union and AFD funded event serves as a platform to identify strategies to influence policy decisions on agroecology and also to discuss the current challenge of hikes in prices of fertilisers in the country.
Participants were drawn from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Centre for No-Till Agriculture, Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Programme, Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development and Journalists.
Mr Agyemang, also a Climate Change Expert at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said agroecology method of farming was gaining acceptance as a science and a social movement which, promotes healthy, culturally appropriate and sustainable food.
He stated that the ECOWAS Commission and the Government were collaborating to implement an initiative called ECOWAS Agroecology Programme to support farms in an agroecological transition to ensure food security, build resilience and protect nature.
Mr Seth Osei-Akoto, the Director of Crop Services at MoFA, in a statement delivered on his behalf, said the Government and its partners were undertaking initiatives to address environmental and climate change challenges in the country.
He noted that the country had developed a national climate-smart agriculture and food security action plan to operationalise the implementation of the agriculture and food security section of the national climate change policy.
Mr Michael Owusu, officer in-charge of fertilizer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, allocations for organic fertilizer supply under the Planting for Food and Jobs had consistently been under subscription.
He urged private companies involved in organic fertilizer production and distribution to up their game in order to meet the increasing national demand on organic fertilizer in the country especially during this period of Russian-Ukraine war.
Participants called for the need for the country to have a common national definition of agroecology.
There was a consensus among the experts that an assessment tool should be developed to help identify the technologies and practices that are aligned with the principles of agroecology.
The experts agreed to organise another meeting in July, 2022 to arrive at the national definition of agroecology and also develop a roadmap for agroecology transitioning in Ghana.
By Albert Ansah