STAKEHOLDERS ATTEND WORKKSHOP ON FOOD SECURITY IN TAMALE

An Agriculturist in the Northern Region is asking government to make use of research findings by stakeholders that are raising food security or insecurity concerns in the area as well as other parts of Ghana.

Luke Nayi, Development Desk Officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in the
Northern Region, noted that stakeholders working in the area of food security and insecurity have not functioned properly because of the way their activities were being perceived by government, thus the need for government to encourage all actors to evolve their work from district through to regional and the national levels.

Mr. Nayi made this call at a day’s stakeholder forum in Tamale on food security organized by Urban Agriculture Network (URBANET) and MoFA.

The forum brought together Regional and District Directors of MoFA, Farmer Based Organisations and Non-Governmental Organizations operating in parts of the Northern Region. The forum aimed at looking at how to let the various stakeholders involved in food security management function very effectively by collaborating with government in order to ensure food availability for all.

According to Mr. Nayi, it was necessary for government to create opportunities for the development of various networks that have mapped out strategies to reduce poverty and improve food security for all Ghanaians irrespective of their income levels. This, in his estimation, would enable Ghana attain her Millennium Development Goal (II) by the year 2015.

“Government should effectively support the nurturing of food security networks through capacity building interventions with a view to reducing poverty and ensuring food security for all Ghanaians,” he stressed.

He however commended government for developing a policy dubbed “Food and Agricultural Sector Development Policy (FASDEP)” to guide agricultural development in Ghana and also create wealth for farmers most of whom are small scale operators.

Joseph Faalong, Northern Regional Director of MoFA hinted that a lot of well tailored programmes and projects have been carried out in many communities geared towards improving food security and sustainable livelihoods in Northern Ghana.

On his part, Zakariah Abdul-Rashid, Programmes Coordinator of (URBANET) mentioned poor infrastructure such as roads, storage and processing facilities, poor coordination and collaboration among key stakeholders as some of the challenges that have affected food security in the region.

He mentioned other challenges as inadequate literature and general awareness on the importance of urban agriculture to food security and its negative impact on health and environment.