The Agribusiness Value Chain Federation, Ghana (AGRIFED) & Mel Consulting Limited and the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, Legon have partnered to effectively build the resilience of smallholder farmers to adapt to the negative impact of climate change through research and development.
Climate change has become a pervasive global crisis and its evidence and impacts are becoming rampant in Ghana. The agriculture sector is very sensitive to the impact of climate change due to the heavy reliance on water. Smallholder farmers are predisposed to be impacted by climate change. The goal of this agreement is for the Parties to collaborate in research, development and implementation of climate-resilient programmes and projects that build the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers along the agribusiness value chain.
This partnership will create a bridge to facilitate the creation and interchange of information, as well as scientific, technical, financial and institutional collaboration in the area of agricultural, social and environmental projects development and implementation between the agribusiness sector and academia.
Speaking on the MoU, the executive director of AGRIFED and MEL Consulting, Ms Lucy Akua Kyerede Quainoo stated that in the visible light of changes in weather patterns due to climate change, more have to be done in the adaptation and mitigation strategy space using Agritech. Such pioneering initiatives in Crop growth prediction forecast goes a long way to enhance production and allied activities such as Agrifinance and Agricultural insurance will ensure the success of the agriculture sector in Ghana”
Giving specific roles to be performed by the parties as defined in the MoU, AGRIFED is to provide technical advice to the WACCI in the development, management and financing of programmes and projects, facilitate project financing and together with WACCI, they shall develop a framework for project/ programme development, management, financing and communication.
WACCI’s responsibility is to provide crop research data that might be useful for farmers’ adaptation to the ugly impacts of climate change. Such data will include drought-resistant crop varieties and sustainable agricultural practices.
Prof Danquah of WACCI acknowledged the importance of this collaboration. “The current trends in weather patterns require such synergies to ensure that production activities are taken to the next innovative level in agronomy and meteorology”, Prof said. He added that WACCI’s work in innovative agriculture is brought to focus here and looks forward to a successful project.
Agribusiness Value Chain Federation, Ghana (AGRIFED) & Mel Consulting is an organization with the purpose to facilitate services along with production, processing, and marketing activities, financing, and capacity building of Agricultural Value Chain Actors in Ghana.
West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) is an academic research institution that is working towards eradicating food insecurity in West Africa through the training of the people needed to breed and improve food security crops for farmers who currently cultivate unimproved low yielding varieties
