Changing Lives in Innovative Partnership (CLIP), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has held its Annual Sustainable Agriculture and Business Forum to help enhance the capacity of farmers in Northern Region.
The two-day event was to engage and educate farmers in the Northern Region on issues focusing on food security, climate change, inclusive growth, agro-pastoralism and nutrition among others.
The event was held under the theme: “Transforming Agriculture for Improved Agribusiness”.
Theevent, organized with support from Empowerment for Life (E4L) programme, brought together experts in agriculture, businessmen and smallholder farmers from Savelugu Municipality, Karaga District, Mion District, Saboba District and Kumbungu District.
Alhaji Abdallah Mohammed, Technical Advisor, Food Security Livelihood and Business Development for CLIP, told the Ghana News Agency that the effort was to help create a network among the farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to increase their productivity as well as commercialise their products.
He said the forum also sought to create market space for farmers to sell their farm produce by linking them to key actors within the commodity value chain.
Mr Abdul Jabaru Mohammed, Programme Manager for Empowerment for Life (E4L), called on farmers to actively participate in the event in order to improve on their productivity and income.
He urged the farmers groups to effectively network and collaborate with other groups in order to advocate for accelerated grass root development as well as yield benefits from government agricultural development initiatives like the Planting for Food and Jobs.
Mr Amadu Ibrahim, Production Manager, Decentralized Composting (DeCO) Company in Tamale, advised farmers to adopt the application and plough more organic fertilizers on their farmlands to help increase the organic matter in the soil.
He said compost fertilizers ensures increased soil retention capacities, increase crop yield as well as reduces emissions of poisonous gases like carbon cioxide (Co2) and methane among others.
Mr Salam Wahabu, Programme Coordinator at Communities United in Fighting Child Hunger (FCH) project, expressed worry over less use and patronage of local produce in the country.
He said the Northern Region has multiple depriving outcomes with about 20 per cent of underweight children less than five years; 33.1 per cent of children stunted in height and 6.3 are wasted due to malnutrition and hunger.
He called on the citizenry to eat locally produced food in the country saying it would help reduce numerous social and economic costs in the country in terms of health, education and productivity.
Other presentations were also made on the Plant and Fertilizer Act of Ghana and Climate resilient farming including Drip irrigation and SMART farming for sustainable agricultural productivity.
By Rashid Mbugri, GNA
