Gov’t urged to embrace agroecology farming concept
Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) is advocating the adoption of the agroecology farming concept to help maintain soil fertility and boost food production in the country.
Mr Charles Kwowe Nyaaba, Director of Programmes, said agroecology farming, which sought to promote the use of organic nutrient sources to enhance soil fertility could be an ideal method to support the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Programme.
Speaking at a training workshop for taskforce team members of the Association at Amanchia, in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District, he said agroecology was the natural strategy to boost food crop yield while at the same time maintaining nutrients to improve soil fertility for continuous farming activities all year long.
The meeting was organized by the Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) and the PFAG in partnership with Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Groundswell International (GSI).
Mr Nyaaba said the current use of chemicals and extensive application of inorganic fertilizer in food production was not only degrading the soil and its nutrient content, but also contaminated the food crops produced, posing a health risk to the end users-human who consumed.
He said the success of the Association’s pilot agroecology farm at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region, had confirmed a research conducted by the University of Ghana that agroecology farming was the way to go in Ghana.
Mr Nyaaba said the adoption of the concept by major commercial farmers in America and Europe; also goes to buttress the importance of the concept in Ghanaian farming practices.
He said PFAG was committed to implementing various projects to promote a resilient farming system through advocacy to reform farming practices in Ghana.
The PFAG had already trained over 400 farmers from the Brong-Ahafo and Upper West Regions in the agroecology concept and would continue to train farmers from other regions.
Dr Kofi Boah, Director for No-Till Cultivation, an agroecology farm, who took participants through the agroecology concept, its constraints and organizational structure, said the concept should be encouraged throughout the country to sustain the ecology.
Source: GNA