Wednesday, October 18, 2006
West African states betting on agriculture to create jobs and tackle illegal immigration: Ghana & Senegal
Ghana
Irrigation is a priority, but a number of measures are being taken to boost crops.
Ghana's recent economic growth has been driven largely by the agricultural sector, the largest sector of the economy accounting for nearly half of the total GDP and about 60% of local employment. The sector grew by 7.5% in 2004 and was estimated to have expanded by 6.5% in 2005. Favourable weather has been the main factor behind the rise in agricultural output. However, higher producer prices and greater use of farm machinery and irrigation were also important.
Rising cocoa production has underpinned the growth. It rose by nearly 30% in 2004 yielding a record crop of 736,911 tonnes in the 2004/05 season. Cocoa output decreased somewhat to 583,109 tonnes in the 2004/05 crop season, which nonetheless represented a strong performance by historical standards. The strong cocoa output in both seasons owed much to improved management and to the mass spraying of cocoa farms under the government's Cocoa Pests Control Programme, which aims to control capsid pest and black pod disease. The gradual increase in the domestic producer price of cocoa, which is now nearly 70% of the world price, has also provided a major incentive to the country's smallholder cocoa farmers. However, due to declining world prices of cocoa since 2003, even maintaining guaranteed price levels would be a challenge.
Cocoa and other crops, especially oil palm, cassava, sorghum, and millet have benefited from the Presidential Special Initiatives, which aim to modernise Ghanaian agriculture though the dissemination of better farming practices, the provision of irrigation facilities, and distribution of improved varieties of seeds and fertilisers. Ghana is now self-sufficient in most of its basic food items, including maize, cassava, yam and plantain. As part of the second Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II), the government is expanding the initiatives in 2006 through measures to enhance access to credit and agricultural inputs and by increasing availability of extension services.
Nonetheless, the agricultural sector faces major structural problems. For example, it estimated that only 5% of irrigable land in Ghana is irrigated. The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ernest Debrah, concedes this anomaly but says measures are underway to irrigate most of the country's farmland. "Currently only 8,800 hectares out of a total farming land of about 120,000 sq kms is irrigated. Out of this the equipment for about 3,000 hectares needs rehabilitation which we are doing now," he told NewsAfrica. He says the government recognises irrigation as vital for successful farming, therefore it is embarking on the construction of small irrigation systems throughout the country.
The government's efforts to improve agriculture are not restricted to irrigation. The measures being taken to achieve food security include the application of science and technology and research and development (R&D). "We are collaborating with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to get us better planting materials and breeds. We are also funding the Savannah Industrial Research Institute in Tamel [in northern Ghana], which has produced three high-yield cotton seeds, two of which are undergoing field trials," Debrah discloses. Another aspect of the modernisation is to encourage farmers to abandon the traditional usage of hoes and cutlasses by introducing mechanised farming.
Another bane of Ghana's agricultural sector is post-harvest losses. Statistics show that about 40% of all agricultural output is wasted annually due to inadequate storage facilities, marketing chains and poor infrastructure. To address this, the government is constructing a fruit terminal with cold storage facilities at the port of Tema, near Accra, to deal with fruit and vegetable exports. "When completed in October 2006, Ghana will be able to export about 300,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually," the minister declared. In addition, the African Development Bank (ADB) is funding the erection of pack houses as well as the purchase of refrigerated vans to transport horticultural produce to the port. The construction of feeder roads is also another component of the government's road infrastructure programme that is currently underway all over the country.
As a result of the good performance of the agricultural sector, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has approached the government to establish a food depot in Ghana. The deal, worth at least $10m per year, involved buying Ghana food items for its emergency food supplies in the sub-region. (NewsAfrica, August)
Senegal
The president hopes REVA will stem illegal immigration.
Senegal's "Return to Agriculture" (REVA) project will not only cater to the needs of the population, especially the youth and women, it will also help to check illegal emigration to Europe, Agriculture, Rural Water and Food Security Minister, Farba Senghor has said. "Meeting the goals of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Document and the Accelerated Growth Strategy, this plan intends, among other goals, to tackle illegal emigration and rural exodus by creating conditions for voluntary return to the land," the Minister told a press conference.
He said the US$60m project would work through integrated development centres and the promotion of private initiatives in the agro-industrial sector.
The scheme, expected to cover the entire country, was initiated by President Abdoulaye Wade to stem illegal emigration by Senegalese youth to Europe.
For its pilot phase, authorities plan to set up 550 integrated development centres for agricultural cultivation, market gardening and the development of village farms.
"During the extension phase, from 2008 to 2015, the REVA will seek to meet the challenges of the agricultural sector as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Accelerated Growth Strategy," Senghor said, adding that the scheme could create some 300,000 direct and indirect jobs during the pilot phase. (PANA, Dakar, 18/7)
Irrigation is a priority, but a number of measures are being taken to boost crops.
Ghana's recent economic growth has been driven largely by the agricultural sector, the largest sector of the economy accounting for nearly half of the total GDP and about 60% of local employment. The sector grew by 7.5% in 2004 and was estimated to have expanded by 6.5% in 2005. Favourable weather has been the main factor behind the rise in agricultural output. However, higher producer prices and greater use of farm machinery and irrigation were also important.
Rising cocoa production has underpinned the growth. It rose by nearly 30% in 2004 yielding a record crop of 736,911 tonnes in the 2004/05 season. Cocoa output decreased somewhat to 583,109 tonnes in the 2004/05 crop season, which nonetheless represented a strong performance by historical standards. The strong cocoa output in both seasons owed much to improved management and to the mass spraying of cocoa farms under the government's Cocoa Pests Control Programme, which aims to control capsid pest and black pod disease. The gradual increase in the domestic producer price of cocoa, which is now nearly 70% of the world price, has also provided a major incentive to the country's smallholder cocoa farmers. However, due to declining world prices of cocoa since 2003, even maintaining guaranteed price levels would be a challenge.
Cocoa and other crops, especially oil palm, cassava, sorghum, and millet have benefited from the Presidential Special Initiatives, which aim to modernise Ghanaian agriculture though the dissemination of better farming practices, the provision of irrigation facilities, and distribution of improved varieties of seeds and fertilisers. Ghana is now self-sufficient in most of its basic food items, including maize, cassava, yam and plantain. As part of the second Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II), the government is expanding the initiatives in 2006 through measures to enhance access to credit and agricultural inputs and by increasing availability of extension services.
Nonetheless, the agricultural sector faces major structural problems. For example, it estimated that only 5% of irrigable land in Ghana is irrigated. The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ernest Debrah, concedes this anomaly but says measures are underway to irrigate most of the country's farmland. "Currently only 8,800 hectares out of a total farming land of about 120,000 sq kms is irrigated. Out of this the equipment for about 3,000 hectares needs rehabilitation which we are doing now," he told NewsAfrica. He says the government recognises irrigation as vital for successful farming, therefore it is embarking on the construction of small irrigation systems throughout the country.
The government's efforts to improve agriculture are not restricted to irrigation. The measures being taken to achieve food security include the application of science and technology and research and development (R&D). "We are collaborating with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to get us better planting materials and breeds. We are also funding the Savannah Industrial Research Institute in Tamel [in northern Ghana], which has produced three high-yield cotton seeds, two of which are undergoing field trials," Debrah discloses. Another aspect of the modernisation is to encourage farmers to abandon the traditional usage of hoes and cutlasses by introducing mechanised farming.
Another bane of Ghana's agricultural sector is post-harvest losses. Statistics show that about 40% of all agricultural output is wasted annually due to inadequate storage facilities, marketing chains and poor infrastructure. To address this, the government is constructing a fruit terminal with cold storage facilities at the port of Tema, near Accra, to deal with fruit and vegetable exports. "When completed in October 2006, Ghana will be able to export about 300,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually," the minister declared. In addition, the African Development Bank (ADB) is funding the erection of pack houses as well as the purchase of refrigerated vans to transport horticultural produce to the port. The construction of feeder roads is also another component of the government's road infrastructure programme that is currently underway all over the country.
As a result of the good performance of the agricultural sector, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has approached the government to establish a food depot in Ghana. The deal, worth at least $10m per year, involved buying Ghana food items for its emergency food supplies in the sub-region. (NewsAfrica, August)
Senegal
The president hopes REVA will stem illegal immigration.
Senegal's "Return to Agriculture" (REVA) project will not only cater to the needs of the population, especially the youth and women, it will also help to check illegal emigration to Europe, Agriculture, Rural Water and Food Security Minister, Farba Senghor has said. "Meeting the goals of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Document and the Accelerated Growth Strategy, this plan intends, among other goals, to tackle illegal emigration and rural exodus by creating conditions for voluntary return to the land," the Minister told a press conference.
He said the US$60m project would work through integrated development centres and the promotion of private initiatives in the agro-industrial sector.
The scheme, expected to cover the entire country, was initiated by President Abdoulaye Wade to stem illegal emigration by Senegalese youth to Europe.
For its pilot phase, authorities plan to set up 550 integrated development centres for agricultural cultivation, market gardening and the development of village farms.
"During the extension phase, from 2008 to 2015, the REVA will seek to meet the challenges of the agricultural sector as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Accelerated Growth Strategy," Senghor said, adding that the scheme could create some 300,000 direct and indirect jobs during the pilot phase. (PANA, Dakar, 18/7)
# posted by Craig Young @ 3:40 AM 
