Ghana government urged to prioritize regenerative agriculture to help achieve SDGs

Mr Kwame Ansah Baffour, Programmes Officer at the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA), has called on the government to consider prioritizing regenerative agriculture to aid in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said regenerative agricultural practices have become more pertinent in this era of climate change and related negative impacts on agriculture since it helps to reverse these impacts by capturing carbon in both the underground and top soil biomass, to counteract the current global trend of atmospheric accumulation.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Domeabra in the Ejisu Municipality, Mr Baffuor said the current increased and consistent use of artificial fertilizers by farmers, has also necessitated regenerative farming due to its ability to help curb the residual effects and impact of these fertilizers on the soil, water and biodiversity.

This underscores the need for the government’s intervention to implement policies and programmes that could drive the adoption of regenerative agriculture to take advantage of its multiple advantages including that of helping to increase biodiversity, enriching soil, improving watershed and enhancing ecosystem services.

“Regenerative farming practices also offered farmers the opportunity to increase crop yields on sustainable basis, enhanced crop resilience to climate instability and improved the health and vitality of farming and ranching communities”, he said.

Mr Baffour said that practice was drawn from decades of scientific and applied research by the global communities of organic farming, agroecology, as well as agroforestry experts.

He urged all key stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to support the call for the introduction of regenerative agriculture as a priority farming system in the country to help increase crop production, enhance food security and safety.

It would also help to preserve the environment to aid the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the Goal 13, which calls for climate change actions by countries.

Source: GNA