|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Smallholder Women Farmers Movement of ActionAid Ghana (SWFM) together with other Famer-based Organisation (FBOs) at a regional agricultural engagement meeting in Tamale have appealed to the government to support them to recover from the devastating effects of the long dry spell they experienced last year.
The other FBOs included Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishers (GNAFF), Savannah Women Farmers Assembly. Mrs Awulatu Yussif, Leader, SWFM, Bimbilla, who was amongst the participants, appealed for subsidies on fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and high-quality seeds.
She called for support programmes that ensured farmers’ access to certified seeds that were disease-resistant and adapted to local climatic conditions. She said this would reduce the burden on farmers and enable them to increase their farm sizes for increased production. The regional agricultural engagement meeting was organised in view of climate change and the dry spell experienced in the northern part of the country last year and its effects on crop production.
It was organised by ActionAid Ghana in collaboration with Songtaba for the farmers to engage government on how the dry spell had affected them and to demand support from government for the next production season. Although generally, farmers lost their investments (some of which were loans) and source of livelihoods because of the dry spell, it was even worse for the affected women because of their under-resource situation.
Data from the Northern Regional Department of Agriculture showed that 460,784 hectares of farms, consisting of various commodities, were affected by the dry spell. Mrs Yussif said the dry spell affected almost all their crops and more than 90 per cent of them did not harvest anything, adding they were also denied the support government provided simply because they did not register. She further called for support for women smallholder farmers to acquire land, loans amongst other farm facilities, urging traditional leaders to give fertile lands to women for increased yields.
Madam Salamatu Sakara, Chairperson of Savannah Women Farmers Assembly, also appealed to the government to institute training programmes to enhance the capacity of agricultural extension agents to educate farmers on best agricultural techniques for improved production. Madam Alia Mumuni, Programme Officer, ActionAid Ghana, advised farmers to adopt technologies such as compost and organic manure, which were resilient to droughts.
She called for gender-responsive agricultural policies and programmes as well as a swift action from government to alleviate the worsening poverty situation amongst less-resourced farmers, especially women as the situation for farmers, particularly in 2024 was alarming. She also called for the strengthening of agricultural research institutes and support for them to develop drought-resistant high-yielding crop varieties.
Alhaji Alhassan Mumuni, Northern Regional Chairman, GNAFF appealed to government to invest more in the agricultural sector. Mr Abdul-Salam Dauda, Northern Regional Crops Officer, Regional Department of Agriculture, said registration was key to benefit from government’s interventions, and urged women farmers to avail themselves for registration for any support schemes instead of pushing their husbands to register on their behalf. He encouraged smallholder farmers to form groups, and or associations to benefit from any support or intervention from government.
Source: GNA
