Horticulture exporters have been challenged to take advantage of the looming shortage of fruits and vegetables in Europe as a result of the raging Russia-Ukraine war to maximize their gains.
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Take advantage of the world economic crisis to upscale production and maximize profit – horticulture exporters urged.
Food prices to edge down in 2023 as recession looms – Rabobank.
Prices for agricultural commodities like coffee, feed grains, and oilseeds could dip next year as many major economies enter recession, but they will remain high in historic terms, Rabobank said in a report on Wednesday.
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Good pricing is the engine to sustaining the cocoa sector – Farmer Pomasi.
As part of the efforts to help address challenges hampering the production of cocoa in the country; SEND Ghana in partnership with INKOTA Netzwerk and SUDWIND has taken another judicious step by meeting key stakeholders within the cocoa value chain to discuss issues bothering living income and human rights in Ghana’s cocoa sector.
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Jospong Group to support and develop the rice sector to cease rice importation.
Rice is the second most consumed food commodity in Ghana cuisine. Ghana imports rice worth millions of dollars every year derailing economic growth. Ghana’s rice production is about 960,000mt as against 1.4mmt consumption making it dependent on foreign countries for the rest of the quantity consumed.
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Transportation cost is not responsible for price hikes of food commodities – Agric Minister
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, says the high cost of transportation is not to blame for soaring food prices.
The latest figures show inflation for October is more than 40% driven largely by food and transportation prices.
Food inflation recorded the highest rate among all the components as against non-food inflation according to the Ghana Statistical Service.
Many have suggested that the astronomical rise in the prices of petroleum products is taking a toll on transportation rates, which is then borne by the consumer.
But answering questions in Parliament, the Minister said the analysis of the Ministry does not point to transportation costs as the cause of the hikes.
He however fell short of explaining exactly what is causing the increase.
The Minister also defended his outfit’s plans to bring food from the local areas to Accra in order to compete with the high cost of food on the market.
The increase in food inflation indicates a jump of more than 3 percent from the previous rate of 37.2%.
Addressing the media, Government Statistician, Prof Samuel Kobina Annim explained that all items in the component for calculating the rate of inflation recorded an increase.
“For the month of October, Food inflation was 43.7%. Last month’s Food inflation was 37.8%. A careful study of the figures show that month-on-month Food inflation was 3.2%.” he said.
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Government to support farmers with $150m Indian Exim Bank facility.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto says the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is arranging a US$150 million from Indian Exim Bank facility to support farmers in the Southern, Middle and Northern belts of the country.
According to him, a detailed project report for implementation has been prepared by a consultant.
The sector minister revealed this on the floor of Parliament in Accra in response to a question from Member of Parliament for Awutu-Senya West, Mrs Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui on efforts the Ministry is instituting to establish mechanisation centres for farmers in the Awutu-Senya District.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto cited that since 2018, the MoFA has imported various agricultural machinery and equipment from Brazil for sale to interested farmers, institutions and new investors at subsided rates across the country.
“Mr. Speaker, this is intended to promote the establishment of private sector-owned mechanisation centres to support farmers,” the Minister said.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto stated that mechanisation centres are to bring smallholder farmers together as a group to have the services of mechanisation at subsidised rates.
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Ghana’s food security status strengthened- Agric Minister.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has noted that, interventions by the current government in the last five years have laid a solid foundation for sustainable food availability, accessibility, utilization and stability even in times of major adversity, food production has been consistent, ensuring the needed stability and resilience that every country needs to survive.
He said, this has been made possible through the sound and pragmatic policy of the government and everyone should support the ongoing effort to build a strong food sector that ensures self-reliance, value addition and the needed linkage to industries.
According to Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto “Government’s investment toward National Food Security within the space of 5 years from 2017, I dare say is unparalleled in the history of this country”.
Responding to an urgent question from, MP for Gomoa east, De-Graft Piatoo on measures the Ministry intends to adopt or have adopted to improve on food security in the country, the Minister said, FAO has established four 4 pillars of food security namely: Availability, Accessibility, Utilization and Stability and “using these pillars as a basis for assessing the status of Ghana’s food security, there is no question that Ghana is more than food secure”.
On food availability, the Minister said, “since the rollout of the government flagship programme Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) in April 2017, data and physical evidence amply attest to a consistent and enhanced food security status of the country. At the very outset, the PFJ campaign signaled the very high premium placed on food security by the government. This explains why the food crop module of the PFJ was the first to be out-doored”.
In terms of food utilization, he said, “Ghana annually experiences a lot of waste and surpluses, to address these problems the government is constructing 80 warehouses across the country.
Most of these warehouses are currently being put to use at District Assemblies after completion to ensure that these warehouses are put to optimal use to serve their purpose.
The Ministry is inviting private sector participation in the management of that facility and advert to that effect has been put in the newspaper, expression of that effect from the private sector”.
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Africa needs more climate funds to adapt to climate change – Adesina.
President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has emphasised that Africa needs more climate support funds to address issues of climate change on the continent as nine out of the 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change are in Africa.
According to him, with the annual climate financing gap at around US$110billion, adaptation to climate change cannot be implemented in its totality unless there is a paradigm shift to funding.
He stated further that for Africa to meet its climate actions obligations under the Paris Agreement, and be able to do climate financing, it needs to get between US$1.3trillion to US$1.6trillion by 2030, bringing an average of US$127billion a year in climate finance; and yet Africa gets only US$18billion, leaving a balance of US$110billion, hence, the importance for developed countries to pay up the financing gap.
“So, putting all these together, Africa is choking from climate change; but again, Africa is underfunded with the finance it needs to tackle its climate change, getting only three percent of the total global climate change finance.
“This is highly disproportionate to the needs Africa has. Today, Africa is losing seven to US$15billion of its productivity a year because of climate change. If actions are not taken rapidly, that will draw to US$50billion a year by 2030,” he said.
He mentioned that a lot of the impact of climate change in Africa is seen in areas of increased levels of drought, flood and heat, affecting crops and livestock production, which will again affect the livelihoods of farmers while threatening food security.
Africa Climate Action Window
Furthermore, he stated that AfDB has created a downstream facility – the Africa Development Fund (ADF) – to mobilise US$13billion for the Africa Climate Action Window, aimed at supporting 37 countries in Africa to tackle climate action.
“This Climate Action Window is very critical for low-income countries in Africa and transition states. This climate window will provide 20 million farmers with access to climate-resilient agriculture technologies. It will also support 20 million farmers and pastoralists to gain access to weather index insurance scores for insuring their livelihoods.
“This will again provide 18 million people with access to water and sanitation, and also provide 840 billion cubic metres of water because water will be critical for the population,” he said.
The president concluded that this facility will also provide about 10 million people with access to clean energy.
Considering all these important interventions and initiatives to tackle climate change, Mr. Adesina reiterated that Africa needs more to tackle climate change; hence, the need to move from words to commitments, commitments to actions, and actions to delivery of money on the table for Africa to deliver on climate change.
He made these remarks during a virtual pre-COP27 press conference and global launch of the ‘State and Trends in Africa 2022 (STA22)’.
On his part, CEO of the Global Centre Adaptation (GCA), Prof. Patrick Verkooijen, stated that Africa is on the frontline of a climate emergency it did not create. He added that Africa’s 1.4 billion people, which is about 17 percent of the global population, contribute almost nothing to global warming, and are responsible for less than three percent of the world’s total greenhouse-gas emissions, yet is very vulnerable to its impacts; hence, the need to pay more attention to investments which mitigate the impact.
“The bottom line is this: if COP27 is to succeed, it needs to ensure that adaptation finance is finally flowing at full scale and pace to Africa. It is clear now that we can no longer afford to wait; adaptation must start happening on a far greater scale with a paradigm shift in investment,” he said.
State and Trends in Adaptation, Africa Report 2022
The State and Trends in Adaptation in Africa. Report 2022 (STA22) completes the most comprehensive overview of present and projected climate risks and adaptation solutions in Africa. STA22, the third in GCA’s series of annual flagship reports, maintains the dedicated focus on Africa from last year and expands its analysis.
The report provides a deep dive into the economics and finance of climate change adaptation, with an additional focus on sectors, cross-sectoral themes and country profiles. It sets out the potential costs and benefits of adaptation interventions in Africa, and includes a new analysis of climate change impact on the private sector.
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All farmers need to adopt best practices to meet climate targets – Hackett.
All farmers and farm types need to adopt best practices if the agriculture sector is to prosper in a sustainable way and meet environmental targets set out for 2030 and 2050, Minister of State, Pippa Hackett has said.
While there is no doubt that this is a very challenging time for agriculture, Minister Hackett said it is also “hugely exciting” because of pioneering work being done in organic farming, regenerative farming, and agroforestry.
Focusing on soil health, crop rotation, grazing and pasture management, and using plants and crops to help enrich and improve soil biology are practices that should apply on all farms, she said.
The minister with responsibility for land use and biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), opened Biofarm 2022, Ireland’s Biological Farming Conference today (Monday, November 7).
“We have huge ambitions here in Ireland, and indeed across the globe, to turn the tide on increasingly negative trends from our food production systems – be that in greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, water and soil quality.
“And if we are to deliver on our targets, or even come close to delivering on them, an enormous amount of the heavy lifting will fall to the agricultural sector,” according to Minister Hackett.
The fifth annual biological farming conference organised by the National Organic Training Skillnet (NOTS) will take place in person and online until Friday, November 11 at the Landmark Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
Key issues facing the farming sector that will be explored at the conference include climate change, carbon sequestration, rising input costs, and farm profitability.
Best practices.
Soil health, and grazing and pasture management are among the areas that need to be improved and focused on in the years and decades ahead, the minister said, adding that “it is not always easy, and a shift in mindset is often needed”.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has meant that change has been thrust upon many farmers, with reduced fertiliser use coming about in many cases by economic necessity, rather than by environmental concern, or government incentives, she said.
Many farmers in Ireland have seen continued grass growth this year, despite the reduction in chemical fertiliser, and it may be possible to move towards a model that relies less on synthetic inputs, according to the minister.
The government has a role to play through incentives, such as supporting multi-species swards, red clover use, the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) and the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS), as well as through the nitrates regulations and the upcoming fertiliser regulations, the minister said.
Minister Hackett added that already hundreds of farmers have been taken into the new OFS which opened over two weeks ago. She commented:
“I know from my own experience when we made the switch to organic farming nearly 10 years ago, that things can be challenging. In a way we had to relearn farming without the crutch of chemical inputs.
“We had to plan further ahead, and we had to have a little faith and believe in our own skills and knowledge, and in the soil beneath our feet,” the minister said.
While it is clear that many farms want to play their part in the move towards truly sustainable farming, she said, to do so requires an openness and willingness to do things differently.
“This is the system change that is needed, because tinkering around the edges of business as usual will no longer cut it,” according to Minister Hackett.
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Current food prices in Accra are over exaggerated- Agric Minister.
Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has intimated that even though the high cost of fuel has contributed to food price hikes recently, prices in urban centres, particularly Accra, are over exaggerated.
The situation, he said, is creating the impression that food has become inaccessible in the country, which is not true.
The Minister, in responding to questions on the Floor of parliament said: “Food accessibility in Ghana is also more than satisfactory. In recent times, price hikes of food commodities in the urban centres particular Accra, is creating an erroneous impression that food has become inaccessible.
I have just returned from a tour of regions in the southern belt of the country and I can assure you that prices in the urbans centres particularly Accra, are a far cry from what obtains in particular production centres in the regions.
Many attribute the high increases to the cost of fuel and transportation. Whereas this may be true to some extend, our analysis at the ministry review that it is over exaggerated.”
He further added that his ministry, in a bid to manage the situation, is arranging to transport food from production centres directly to Accra.
The move, he noted, will provide food at reasonable prices to the public and workers in the area.
Meanwhile, latest figures from the Ghana Statistical Service show inflation for October is more than 40 percent, a case which is largely driven by food and transportation prices.
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