The national dialogue on vegetable value chain policy has been held to analyze the research report on strengthening agricultural value chain economics for sustainable development which focused on vegetables.
The meeting was organized by the Agency for Health and Food Security (AHEFS) in collaboration with National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in Accra with the theme; Systems Approach to Vegetable Value Chain Policy, Pandemic Response and African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) agreement.
The Director General, NDPC, Dr. Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa in his keynote address said that this is the period for Ghana to make choices and initiate change.
He said it is imperative for every nation to initiate change whenever there is a crisis. To guarantee recoveries from the crisis, Ghana should invest and make changes in areas such as technology, finance, and the life pattern of the farmers. Citing examples of historical events that propelled the thoughts of some countries, he mentioned Germany, Britain, America, and the likes changed to industrialization after the Second World War, therefore, Ghana’s agriculture sector should adopt a drastic change amid and post Covid-19.
According to him, Covid-19 is a huge opportunity to prioritize policies that would bring the needed change in Ghana’s agriculture sector. He mentioned that Ghana’s agriculture has had a situation for supply-driven for a long time and from the coordinated programme for economic and social policy development which emphasized on demand-driven agriculture from the government to the farmers, enormous produce have been recovered from the Planting for Food and Jobs programme and now, with the advent of African Continental Free Trade Area, it is an opportunity for farmers to produce not only for Ghanaians for the African continent at large.
He entreated Ghanaians not to reverse from the positive change derived from the pandemic but practice it after the pandemic.
The Executive Director of AHEFS, Mr. Kwaku Asante admonished that a greater percentage of Ghanaian population are farmers, therefore, there should be a dedicated fiscal mechanism to finance commodity value chain activities within the vegetable sector. He noted that the chief constraint in the agriculture sector is finance which mitigates the activities of the farmers in the production process leading to low patronage by the youth.
Mr. Kwaku Asante asserted that the government should design vegetable value chain policy to clearly define the implementation strategies which would consider peculiar challenges and food safety concerns associated with specific crops and their value chains.
He espoused the benefits accrued from the vegetable sector being huge than any other crop in the agriculture value chain. “If the youth want to get ripen income, self-independent and self-employed, the best place to go is the vegetable sector but unfortunately the policies and regulations embodied the sector are so porous that they cannot guarantee the necessary benefits the farmers should acquire”, he bemoaned.
He continued that Ghana spends over $100 million on tomato and onion importation from the neighboring countries which the demand for these commodities keeps increase in demand by 10% each year.
He advised the farmers to adhere to technological practice to improve yields. “Farmers should be trained to become technologically savvy in order for the agriculture sector to catch up with the sub-Sahara countries”.
Speaking on barriers to vegetable safety affecting demand for commodities, Prof. Asare Bediako, the Dean of Agriculture at the University of Cape Coast raised concerns about the abusive use of pesticides by the farmers stating that the farmers are not applying the pesticides correctly.
He cautions the farmers to follow the agronomical practices indicating that food security is not just about the accessibility of the food, but the safety of the food.
The Deputy Chairman, Parliamentary Select Committee on Agriculture, Hon. Kwasi Etu-Bonde on a panel discussion during the national dialogue said that venturing into agriculture requires skills.
Agriculture is a science that demands depth knowledge, skills and capacity to actualize the full benefits. Speaking to Agric Today, he alluded to the farmers to recognize agriculture as a business but not as a culture. Perceiving agriculture as a business involves managerial, technical, and marketing skills to produce quality farm produce to the market.
He urged the vegetable farmers to create a formidable consortium with one voice to push their agenda and formulated policies to the cabinet for the necessary attention.
Mr. Anthony Morrison, the CEO of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana passionately complained about the poor allocation of financial resources in the sector. “Government allocates finance to SMEs for value addition whilst the farmer who produces the products for the value addition to be added on is left out, how will SMEs do the value addition if the farmers do not get capital to produce the raw materials”, he quizzed.
He suggested the need for the agriculture sector to have Authority. According to him, the fragmentation of the sector makes it cumbersome for investors to invest. He called for the formation of an Authoritative body with the needed power to regulate its activates effectively as it is done in other sectors. This would pull more investors to the sector, he concluded.
The National Dialogue Vegetable Value Chain Policy converged dignitaries and stakeholders from the agric value chain.
