The government will spend GH¢614million (US$98 million) on its flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme for the 2022 implementation year. The amount is an increase from GH¢439million (US$70million) spent in the 2021 planting season.
Akwasi Darko, 56 years old cocoa farmer has been stabbed to death by his labourer Raymond Oduro, 33, at Beposo; a farming community within the Ashanti Region. Raymond with a locally made machete used for breaking cocoa pods stabbed Akwesi Darko twice before taking to his heels.
Conflicts related to cross-border transhumance have become more frequent and violent in recent years. A lot of people have the perception that these conflicts are caused by Fulani herdsmen in the country but, that is not always the case.
Our health is the most essential thing in life. When we disregard our health, diseases that could have been easily been prevented at an early stage would get enough time to grow and damage our health.
There is no doubt that the just-ended year, 2021, has been a difficult agricultural year. Data from the Statistics, Research, and Information directorate of the Ministry for Food and Agriculture shows that between January and October 2021, the prices of major food crops like maize, yam, cassava, tomatoes, and rice increased between 12 and 73%.
Melach Coconut Processing Farm, a company that started its value addition of coconut at the kitchen is now the large exporter of coconut products.
To promote and develop agriculture in Ghana, the local seeds should be available in the market for the farmers to buy and cultivate.
Seed is critical in the production process and to ensure food security and good nutrition, Prof. Francis Kweku Amagloh has urged farmers to patronize the local seeds for their maximum nutritional value for growth and development.
“The major constraint we need to work against is the availability of seed. We need to make sure we develop the seed market for our indigenous vegetables because farmers buy tomato seeds to plant, we should also do the same thing, and we should be able to buy our indigenous vegetable seeds. It should be available at the market for us to buy”, Pro. Amagloh said.
He explained that there are some factors that hinder the growth of indigenous vegetable seeds in some parts of the country. These factors according to him are culture, rainfall pattern, taboos, and availability of seeds. Giving an example he said, in Accra, there are no bilva leaves because it was not available back the days.
Speaking to Agric Today, Prof. said Ghana’s micro-nutrient deficiency is high and Ghana has big nutritional issues, however, the local fruits and vegetables are power-houses of the nutrients therefore, we need to consider the indigenous fruits and vegetable seeds to obtain these nutritional losses.
He advocated for irrigation as a means of growing local seeds in every part of the country to promote food security.
150 young individuals including the physically challenged have been given three days of intensive capacity building in agribusiness.
Rainforest Alliance has donated Personal Protective Equipment to health officials in Sefwi Wiawso, Akontombra, Bodi, and Bibiani Ahwiaso-Bekwai Municipal areas to fight the new omicron variant pandemic.
