Tree Crop Diversification good project
The government yesterday launched the Ghana Tree Crop Diversification Project (TCDP) meant to reshape the country’s agricultural sector and foster sustainable economic growth.
The $227.5-million project is being funded in partnership with the World Bank and expected to benefit over 52,775 farmers in six regions of the country.
What is joyful about it is that it has special focus on empowering women and the youth within the agricultural sector.
It is a well-known fact that in this country, things are often done as if we are operating a patriarchal social system, where men are in authority over women in all aspects of the society. Chauvinism, thus, becomes a hurdle that prevents women from benefitting from something that they and men equally deserve.
In other words, gender inequality is a problem in the Ghanaian society and its impact is dire for females. It is, therefore, important that the project is addressing gender inequality within the tree crop industry.
After all, the agriculture industry is where many of the people, both males and females, particularly those without any other means of livelihood, can operate.
It is also a fact that the youth are discounted when it comes to certain benefits in the society except when their physical strength is important and cannot be ignored.
This is why we want to hail the special attention given to women and the youth in this TCD project.
But what exactly is this project to be rolled out in 11 districts across six regions of Ghana, said to have been carefully chosen for their potential to maximise the impact?
It is aimed to confront key challenges that compromise productivity and sustainability in the production of cocoa, cashew, coconut, and rubber.
These are crop trees which have much significance for the country’s development.
Cocoa, for instance, is said to have been the backbone of the country’s economy for decades and currently it is clear to many how the remaining three crops are making economic waves.
However, like all crop trees, these too have challenges that have to be grappled with by their producers, including soil fertility, planting material quality, diseases and pests, low productivity, product quality issues, lack of the required processing and value-added capacity, weak supply chains, and socio-cultural and economic factors.
We would not be wrong to conclude that by the end of the already-running five-year (2022-2027) project, such challenges would have been eradicated or the appropriate solutions identified to confront those which may recur.
Even though, The Ghanaian Times does not condone child labour, it appeals to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to let the country’s international partners understand that their concept of child labour is different from what obtains, so when they are incorporating it in their conditions for assisting the country, they understand which elements of the concept do not constitute offence in the country.
The Ghanaian Times is raising this issue because it is said that the TCD project would also address critical issues such as child labour.
However, all in all, the project makes both social and economic sense, viewed particularly in the light that it is expected to generate approximately 20,000 jobs to enhance the livelihoods of local communities.
