Ghana - Étape 2
Main findings
The discussions from the breakout sessions produced the following key findings: High input cost, poor farming practices including inappropriate use of agrochemicals (insecticides, weedicides, and pesticides). Contamination of grains and legumes by aflatoxin and the lack of screening methods to ensure safe levels of aflatoxins Poor climatic conditions result in poor yield. During the dry seasons, there is no water for irrigation and then during the rainy season, there is overflooding. Poor access to seeds, and seedlings in the communities to encourage backyard gardening
... Lire la suiteWith respect to transportation of food, there are poor road network in villages where food is produced making it difficult to transport food to markets thereby resulting in postharvest losses. Poor regulation of foods produced: there are no standards for regulating produce especially those for the local market. With respect to consumption, there is no screening for food vendors on diseases such as typhoid thus putting consumers at high risk. Poor production, storage, and distribution systems across the food system Most Ghanaians lack access to processing facilities which helps to add value to raw produce (resulting in postharvest loss and waste). Lack of education and low nutrition literacy among the population Unsafe water from hospital waste is discharged into rivers, which is utilized by farmers to irrigate their crops. Poor food environment for Ghanaians where processed food are high on the diets of Ghanaians and the media publicity for unhealthy foods and beverages (Advertisement). Unhygienic food environment e.g. unsafe process in abattoirs Key issues affecting healthy and sustainable food consumption in Ghana include: Low capacity of local farmers to produce healthy and sustainable food. Constraints to accessing finance and loan credit for the production of healthy and sustainable foods. Difficulty of some professionals whose work relate to land to mainstream the land tenure agenda in their work. Foreign rather than local dietary guidelines are used or adapted in Ghana. Much attention is given to cocoa which is a major cash crop in the Ashanti region and main source of income to farmers, hence low production of food crops causing food insecurity. Cocoyam is a very important indigenous crop but for some years now, the production levels keep reducing due to the use of herbicides on cocoa farms which has reduced production. Local fishermen use a lot of chemicals in the fishing activities and this, coupled with other factors have caused a decline in the fish stock. Over dependency on rain fed agriculture Continuous decline in soil fertility amidst climate change. Poor access to credit by farmers and women to diversify and re-invest in agriculture Lack of access to gender-sensitive equipment especially to women for small scale processing of food Production is unattractive to the youth to replace the aging farmers Lack of stability in terms of pricing. Sand winning and urbanization with no compensation for the farmers and lack of proper restoration of land properties after winning the sand Lack of support for farming and fishing Some recommendations for addressing these issues include: Deploy extension officers to communities to educate local farmers on the use of farm chemicals and other farm inputs. There is the need to inspect production sites as well as the levels of chemicals in foods before sale or exportation. Mainstream the land tenure agenda into programming of all relevant sectors. Accelerate the development and use of Ghana’s dietary guidelines. Lire moins
Piste(s) d'Action: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Mots-clés : Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Finance, Governance, Human rights, Innovation, Policy, Trade-offs, Women & Youth Empowerment