Empowering peasant farmers key to national food security

 With anticipated good rains and favourable weather this year, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has assured of its readiness to ensure there is bumper harvest of food in the country.

The assurance is based on a number of measures put in place by the association to enable its members take full advantage of the rains to produce more to feed the nation.

Peasant farming also known as smallholder farming plays a significant role in the country’s agricultural sector, contributing to about 70 per cent of the agricul­tural sector.

It is estimated that about 60 per cent of all farms in the country are less than 1.2 hectares in size, and small-size and medium-size farms of up to 10.0 hectares account for 95 per cent of the cultivated land. Similarly, nearly 52 per cent of the country’s labour force is engaged in agriculture, with about 39 per cent of these being women.

Given the significant presence of smallholder farmers in the country’s agricultural scene, it is very difficult to discount the value and the importance of the PFAG in feeding the nation.

Although exact percentage of smallholder farmers in terms of figures, are not available, their role cannot be discounted, as available data shows that they are crucial to Ghana’s food security and agricul­tural economy.

The Ghanaian Times is therefore more than optimistic about the assurance by the PFAG to ensure that the country has more than enough of food in the coming season, more especially, in the wake of the positive predictions of good rains in the year by the Ghana Meteorological Authority (G-Met).

The high level of optimism is underpinned by the fact that the PFAG recognises that the pres­ence of good rains and favourable weather conditions merely do not guarantee good harvest, but rather other factors which include practi­cal approach to doing things.

The President of PFAG, Mr Wepia Awal Adugwala, in prof­fering the assurance also outlined a number of things that would have to be put in place to enable them achieve the ultimate goal of ensuring bumper harvest.

While the forecast of frequent rains offers a silver lining, Mr Adugwala also highlighted the urgent need for strategic planning between its members and govern­ment.

We at The Ghanaian Times believe that climate change continues to alter weather patterns, making it unpredictable and even though G-Met has predicted good rains this year, farmers can no longer rely solely on natural rainfall.

The time has come for the government to invest decisively in irrigation systems and flood con­trol measures that will safeguard agricultural activities and ensure all year-round farming.

The mention of the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam and the one-village-one-dam initiatives under­score the critical role of infrastruc­ture in agricultural resilience. We believe that these projects, when prioritised and executed efficient­ly will not only compliment the good rains, but could serve as lifelines for farmers, particularly in drought-prone regions in the country, especially the five north­ern regions.

Last year’s drought was a harsh reminder of how vulnerable Ghana’s food system remains to climate shocks. Not only were crop losses devastating, but it also revealed the high vulnerability levels of farmers in the country, especially peasant farmers.

Already, the government has given indication of how it intends to position agriculture with the launch of the Feed Ghana Programme. We believe the pro­gramme is a commendable policy initiative, however, its success depends on how effectively it is implemented.

For us on The Ghanaian Times, the PFAG’s call for the govern­ment to channel input distribu­tions through farmer cooperatives rather than political intermediaries under the programme is not only apt, but also a practical and neces­sary recommendation.

Input delays, misallocations, and politicisation have historical­ly hindered the effectiveness of government interventions and we believe that empowering organised farmer groups to handle distribu­tion will increase transparency and ensure that support reaches those who need it most.

Additionally, the role of farmer service centres must not be under­estimated, as the centres are vital for disseminating information on best farming practices, pest con­trol, and crop management—tools that are just as critical as fertilisers and seedlings.

It is important to re-empha­sise that food security in Ghana depends not just on good rains, but also on good policies and as the PFAG rightly points out, hope must be backed by action.

To this end we urge the gov­ernment to respond with urgency, transparency, and cooperation to support the backbone of our agri­cultural sector, the peasant farmer.

If we get it right, Ghana can not only feed itself but thrive agriculturally in the face of global uncertainties