Peasant Farmers call for mainstreaming of Agroecology

The farmers called for increased efforts to promote Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture

Peasant farmers Association (PFAG) and Organization for indigenous Initiative and Sustainability (ORGIIS) and partners have met to deliberate on moves for increased efforts to promote Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture.

The stakeholders in collaboration with CIKOD and the Ghana National Systematic business farmers Association (GNSBFA) discussed how political parties could incorporate agroecology practices into their agricultural manifestos and for municipal and district assemblies to implement them to improve farming practices.

Mr Tetteh Owusu Nortey, programme officer PFAG in a statement stressed the impact of climate change and its effect on current rainfall pattern, extreme weather scenarios and changing forestry landscape and its debilitating effect on livelihood and sustainability of small holder farmers.

Mr Nortey emphasized that bush burning, indiscriminate felling of tress, excessive application of fertilizer, use of weedicides, pesticides and over grazing contributed to the poor environmental conditions and therefore encouraged stakeholders to use best farming practices approach that helps sustainable farming.

In an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the sidelines of the workshop, Mr Julius Awaregya Director, ORGIIS called for a speed up of the district assemblies and departments of Agriculture to mainstream indigenous ways of farming to improve soil fertility and enhance sustainable agricultural practices.

“if farmers do not practise Agroecology as a way of farming, the country cannot export some agricultural produce and we are aware that not too long ago the Ghana Vegetable sector suffered a setback in the European markets, where some crops were banned from entering the EU because of the way we crop them with excessive use of pesticides “. Mr Awaregya stressed.

Rev John Akaribo, Regional Focal Person of PFAG called on government to make its flagship programme on 1V1D be a starting point for the implementation of Agro ecology and as means to mitigate the current climate change challenges.

He also advised government to sustain any pilot programme when results were positive and further encouraged government to adopt a district at a time to demonstrate the initiative.