food production – Adomonline.com https://www.adomonline.com Your comprehensive news portal Thu, 29 Aug 2024 16:33:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.adomonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-Adomonline140-32x32.png food production – Adomonline.com https://www.adomonline.com 32 32 5 ways gov’t plans to avert impact of dry weather conditions on food production https://www.adomonline.com/5-ways-govt-plans-to-avert-impact-of-dry-weather-conditions-on-food-production/ Thu, 29 Aug 2024 16:33:42 +0000 https://www.adomonline.com/?p=2441101 The Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Adam Amin says the government acknowledges the impact of dry weather conditions on food production and food security in eight regions of the country.

He emphasised the negative effects of the dry spell on agricultural production, food security, employment, income, farmers’ investments, GDP, and food inflation, among other areas.

Briefing the press on Thursday, August 29 on the state of the economy, Dr Amin said that given the potential impact of the dry spell on the livelihoods and the emergency nature of the crisis, the government has put in place some emergency measures to mitigate the impact and to prevent food shortage in the country.

He said that the government is working diligently to ensure that this near-drought condition does not disrupt the country’s Fund-supported Post-COVID-19 Economic Growth and Employment Program (PC-PEG).

Thus, he outlined several interventions being implemented by the government to avert a crisis and reduce its impact on Ghanaians and the economy.

Among these measures are:

  • A temporary ban on the export of selected grains, including maize, rice, and soybeans.
  • Mopping up stock from local farmers to ensure they do not suffer adversely from the export ban.
  • Importation of grains (including maize and rice) and poultry feed to build reserves.
  • Drought relief support, including cash transfers to vulnerable farmers affected by the dry spell to partially compensate for their losses.
  • Input support, providing affected farmers in the Northern and Southern regions with inputs such as fertilizer, urea, maize seeds, and rice seeds to enable replanting when the rains return and to boost production during the minor season.

The Finance Minister estimated the total cost of the proposed interventions at GH¢8.36 billion ($522.20 million).

“We envisage that this will be funded from GOG resources complemented by funding and technical support from Development Partners (DPs),” he said.

Furthermore, he said President Akufo-Addo has tasked the Ministers of Finance and Food and Agriculture with overseeing the implementation of the necessary measures.

“A technical task force with membership drawn from MoF, MOFA, and DPs has been constituted to monitor the mobilisation and use of resources for the implementation of programmed interventions as part of measures to ensure transparency and accountability.

“Government also continues to invest significantly in the development of irrigation facilities, small earth dams, and boreholes in the Northern, Upper West, Upper East and Eastern regions to expand crop production in these areas.”

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to advancing the Economic Enclave Projects (EEP) under the Ghana CARES Program, aimed at revolutionising agriculture by attracting private investments and leveraging development partner resources to develop large-scale greenfields that will serve as the food baskets for the country and the sub-region.

Source: Myjoyonline

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]]> ‘Bui Dam project is decreasing annual food production’ https://www.adomonline.com/bui-dam-project-decreasing-annual-food-production/ Tue, 04 Jul 2017 10:12:29 +0000 http://35.232.176.128/ghana-news/?p=266601 The Bui dam project has affected the rainfall pattern in the Banda District of the Brong-Ahafo Region and is decreasing annual food production in the area, says the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
The worst affected predominant farming communities include; Jama, Dorbor and Banda-Ahenkro, where farmers are mostly engaged in maize, yam, beans, groundnuts and other vegetables, cashew crops and bee keeping in commercial quantities.
According to the MOFA, the communities could not over-rely on the erratic rainfall pattern, and recommended irrigation facilities to enable the farmers to increase food productivity.
Mr William Biah, the Banda District Director of MOFA, said many trees in the area were cut down during the construction stage of the dam and farmers in the communities were now faced rippling effect of the construction.
He said though the rains remained favourable this cropping season as compared to the last year, its severity was a huge challenge to farming.
Mr Biah was speaking at a farmer’s forum at Dorbor in the district, organised by the Save Environment Foundation (SEF), an environmentally inclined Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) and attended by five farmer groups in the district.
He expressed discomfort about the indiscriminate felling of trees by charcoal burners and rampant bush fires, and advised the farmers to set up watch dog committees to bring the situation under control.
Mr Biah said the situation would worsen with serious repercussions on the economic livelihood of the people, not only those in the district but the region and the nation at large if the trend was not changed.
This, he explained was because the district contributed a percentage to national food security.
Mr Collins Osei, the Executive Director of SEF, underscored the need to enhance the adaptability and resilience of the local farmers to climate change through ecological farming in the area.
He said it was against this background that his NGO was implementing an 18-month project to promote sustainable agro-forest through alley cropping and woodlot establishment on degraded lands.
Under the project, communities would be assisted with resource development programmes aimed at re-foresting suitable harvested sites, reclaiming degraded woodland, and afforesting denuded lands.
Mr Osei added that women farmers would also be assisted to adopt and practise sustainable livelihoods by introducing and assisting them to rear farm animals.
He urged farmers in the area who had not registered with any group to do so to enable them to benefit from trainings and other incentive packages.
Mr Osei also observed that with the formation of the famer groups, members could easily access credit facilities from financial institutions to expand their economic activities.

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