Agriculture experts in Africa attend conference

Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) on Monday urged African countries to develop and use agricultural extension approaches that would facilitate the participation of farmers and other stakeholders in the planning of extension programmes to achieve food security and generate wealth.

Such approaches, the Minister said, would encourage the farmers and stakeholders to take ownership, responsibility and opportunities "to produce more, process more and sell more".

The Minister made the call in a speech read for him by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in-charge of Crops, Mr Clement Eledi at the opening of a five-day international conference on "Transforming Agricultural Extension in Africa".

Major Quashiga said though the lives of Africans depended on Agriculture, "African agriculture continues to face several challenges like erratic rainfall, lack of and use of appropriate technologies, non-availability and high cost of inputs, low value-addition, market access and low rural infrastructure" all of which work to reinforce low productivity and increase poverty among farmers.

He, therefore, tasked policy makers and agricultural experts to adopt extension systems that could help farmers make informed decisions based on their understanding of the relationship between production and market demands.

The conference being attended by about 70 agricultural researchers, extension workers, policy makers and development partners drawn from Mali, Nigeria Malawi, Kenya, Togo, Uganda and the US, would discuss the changing circumstances and challenges in agriculture extension services and develop effective strategies to guide extension delivery in Africa.

The Minister said Ghana had embarked on a programme of collaborating with civil society to develop and implement strategies that encourage community and farmer participation to improve the bargaining power of farmers in the production, processing and marketing of their produce.

He therefore called for extension programmes that would facilitate the formation, strengthening of farmer-based organization to help empower farmers to have their voices heard, demand, and provide strategic services.

Maj. Quashiga said the issue of hindrances of African agricultural international trade was being discussed at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by developing countries, "and we shall continue to talk to the rich countries to help create a fairer environment for agricultural trade".

The conference, which is a follow-up to an international workshop held in Washington DC last year on "Extension and Rural Development" is being held under the auspices of the MOFA with support from the German Development Corporation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Mrs Dorothea Groth, Counsellor of the German Development Cooperation (GTZ), emphasized the good long-standing Ghanaian-Germany cooperation and gave the assurance of continued German cooperation in ensuring good governance, private sector and agricultural development.

Mr Joseph Tchicaya, FAO Country Representative, said the agriculture extension conference was very timely because it was one of those means available that would help alleviate poverty and improve food security in Africa.

He said for instance, studies conducted by FAO and other organisations had concluded that the primary cause of malnutrition in less developed countries was not scarcity but the problem of distribution and the existence of poverty.

He advised the participants to look out for long-term approaches to world hunger through extension services, which would assist farmers to increase, process, market and distribute their productions effectively.

Mr Jean-Pierre Bolduc, Canadian High Commissioner, said the goal of the conference was clearly compatible with CIDA's policy and programme of priorities.

The factors should include strengthening national capacity, creating and using traditional and new knowledge for development and enhancing food security and agricultural productivity and income.