By
Anthony Apubeo, GNA
Bolgatanga, Dec 2,
GNA – Stakeholders in agriculture at a forum in Bolgatanga, have advocated
agro-ecological farming practices as the best measure to increasing and
sustaining food production, while protecting the environment.
They called for
agro-ecology to be mainstreamed into national development policies and the
Medium Term Development Plans (MTDPs) of the Assemblies.
The forum was
organised by the Ghana National Sesame Business Farmers’ Association (GNSBFA)
in partnership with Organisation for Indigenous Initiatives and Sustainability
(ORGIIS), an environment focused organisation.
It was part of the
second phase implementation of the Joint Action for Farmers’ Organisations in
West Africa (JAFOWA) project.
The project is
implemented in northern Ghana with a mission of ensuring households’ food
security and income, sustainable agriculture, human and soil health.
The agro-ecology
advocacy project inception meeting also sought to influence policy makers to
ensure sustainable agriculture through agro-ecological farming practices,
particularly budgetary allocation to agro-ecological farming practices.
Mr Bismarck Nortey,
the Project Officer of PFAG, said agro-ecology had over the years been
neglected due to lack of interest and limited knowledge on the significance of
innovation to achieving sustainable farming without damaging the environment.
He explained that it
was a driver to attain increased sustained agriculture in Ghana and therefore
called on policy makers, particularly the Metropolitan, Municipal and District
Assemblies (MMDAs) to mainstream agro-ecological farming practices into their
MTDPs.
He called on
government to integrate agro-ecological concepts into the country’s agriculture
production system, and said the practice would enhance biodiversity
conservation and improve rural economies.
Dr Bernard My-Issah,
the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of Agriculture explained that the continuous
use of chemical fertilizers for farming polluted the environment and caused the
soil to lose its fertility.
He said there was
the need to adopt sustainable agricultural practices.
He said
agro-ecological farming was practised years before the introduction of
agro-chemical fertilizers and that yielded higher and more nutritious foods
than what was produced using chemical fertilizers.
He said research
showed that organic farming increased yields, less expensive, built the soil
structure, and the produce had a longer shelf life.
Whilst advising
farmers to make a paradigm shift from the current system of inorganic farming
to agro-ecological farming, the Director urged stakeholders to join the
campaign for mainstreaming agro-ecological farming into national policies and
ensure enough budgetary allocation.
GNA
