WMDA Introduces Organic Farming Methods To Two Communities

In the wake of climate change and its associated debilitating effects on conventional agriculture or farming, many experts are encouraging farmers to adapt to organic farming, a practise that emphasizes closed nutrient cycles, biodiversity and effective soil management thereby providing the capacity to mitigate and even reverse the effects of climate change and land degradation.

Organic farming can decrease fossil fuel emissions and, like any well managed agricultural system, sequester carbon in the soil. The elimination of synthetic nitrogen in organic systems decreases fossil fuel consumption by 33% and carbon sequestration takes CO₂ out of the atmosphere by putting it in the soil in the form of organic matter which is often lost in conventionally managed soils.

For instance, in 2008 the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated that "organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems, and that it is more likely to be sustainable in the long-term" and that "yields had more than doubled where organic, or near-organic practices had been used" and that soil fertility and drought resistance improved.

In view of the aforementioned, the West Mamprusi District Assembly in the Northern Region of Ghana has decided to undertake organic agriculture education/training in two communities – Mishio and Zua, as part of the ongoing efforts to curb farming close to the banks of the White Volta River in the area.

The introduction of organic agriculture education comes as part of a nine-month climate change project dubbed: “fighting climate change through reforestation.” The project sought to increase tree population to ensure effective combat of desertification, and further raise awareness and strengthen civil society capacity to take up their own initiatives in the fight against climate change.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Savannahnews, the Project Coordinator, Issifu Sulemana, said the Hanns-Seidel Foundation Ghana which is sponsoring the nine-month climate change project, provided One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-Seven Ghana Cedis (GH¢1,897.00) to the Assembly to initiate and prepare the two communities for organic agriculture technology.

According to him, the amount requested was spread over expenditures covering series of activities in part one of the whole organic agricultural education programme. These activities, he said, included (1) Initial Community briefing/sensitization meeting on organic farming at Zua and Mishio, (2) The formation and registration of two groups in each community, (3) a one day capacity building training on general principles of land management for both communities on the advantages and disadvantages in each principle.

Objective of the program

The organic farming program which began in February 2012 targets farmers including men and women who continue to farm along the banks of the White Volta River due to high soil fertility content around the river. The organic agriculture training program included sustainable land management practices that aimed at complementing the efforts by the Assembly in combating desertification, contribute to soil conservation and help sustain sound natural environment in the area as well as offer better farm yields to improve food security.

It was also to introduce and sensitise the two communities on organic agriculture and its relevance to them in the midst of desertification and climate change regimes. Besides, it intended to organize interested community members into organic agricultural groups and introduced group members to general principles of land management through capacity building.

Mr David Agongo, the Executive Director of ZEFP explained that participatory approach was employed at each stage to bring together and generate the interest of entire communities during trainings/sensitization seminars to ensure that local knowledge and experiences were properly incorporated into the learning and teaching of the organic agriculture education. “Joint approach made up of government agencies like the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and non-governmental organisation Zaasilari Ecological Farms Project jointly carried out the activity to ensure cohesion in agricultural policy in the area” he added.

In all 167 community members were sensitized on the relevance of organic agriculture technology in the two communities. Four groups with membership of 16 and 17 respectively were formed to practice organic agriculture and sustainable land management in the two communities.

GDCA More Optimistic As First Phase of E4L Ends Successfully

The first phase of the Empowerment for Life (E4L), a five year programme jointly being implemented by the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA) and Youth Empowerment for Life (YEfL) with funding of GH¢5,554,055.28 from the Ghana Venskabsgrupperne (Danish partner) has ended with some appreciable level of successes.

E4L is implemented in fifteen Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Northern Region of Ghana. They include Tamale Metroplis, Yendi Municipality, Tolon-Kumbungu, Savelugu-Nanton, Karaga, Gushiegu, Saboba, Chereponi, Nanumba North, Nanumba South, Zabzugu, West Mamprusi, East Gonja, West Gonja and Kpandai

The programme which was launched on 1^st January, 2010 and is expected to end on 31^st December, 2014, is aimed at empowering the poor, vulnerable and marginalised group in the aforementioned areas to have the capacity and ability to improve their quality of life through education, employment, local organisation as well as better access to and management of food and water resources on the basis of a right-based approach.

The programme is among other things targeting a primary group of 66,545 people and a secondary group consisting of 64,815 people. It has been grouped into two phases with the first phase covering the period from 1^st January 2010 to 31^st December 2011 whilst the second phase covers the period from 1^st January 2012 to 31^st December 2014.

The EfL project is relying on strategies that would focus more on advocacy as compared to service delivery and also focus on tracking all root causes of inequalities and making them known to those who should fulfil those rights.

Whilst supporting the right holders to demand their rights and giving voice to the voiceless, capacity building is also being organised to help duty-bearers and right-holders with the needed capacity to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively.

The programme would further focus on the advocacy for the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, increment in the number of women at the Assembly level, construction of the Eastern Corridor and Tamale-Nawuni roads, activities of alien Fulani herdsmen and among others.

Achievements of E4L so far

Recounting the achievements chalked so far under the first phase of the E4L programme, the Programmes Advocacy and Communications Officer of GDCA Mrs. Rosemond Sumaya Kumah at a media review meeting, said communities in the beneficiary MMDAs were gradually becoming highly aware of their rights and responsibilities and work together on critical issues affecting their progress, adding that “unions are formed to organise communal labour in support of development in their areas. Established community advocacy groups have received attention from duty bearers through the provision of water facilities and agricultural services, especially in the Karaga District and Yendi Municipality.”

According to her, for the first time since 1989, a woman contested for and won the MMDA election of 2010 in the Nyingali Electoral Area in the Karaga District while the number of female appointees and those elected has increased when compared to previous years. This, she observed, was an indication that community people are now softening their stands on discrimination against women and want to include them in decision-making processes.

Also, under the first phase of the programme, 5,062 out-of-school children became literates in their mother tongue under the School for Life (SfL) model, she disclosed, stressing that out of the figure 4,369 (2,385 males and 1,984 females) graduates were integrated into the formal school system by the end of September 2010. With support from UNICEF, 750 children in 30 communities in the Savelugu-Nanton District were taught in their mother tongue.

Mrs. Kumah also told the media that government has adopted the SfL model and drafted two important policy documents – the Strategic and Operational Plans- which would lead to the piloting of the Complementary Basic Education Policy.

Besides, a functional think-tank made up of the academia, research institutions, government and non-governmental organisations under the right to food security component of the programme, are combining research knowledge and local farmers’ expertise to address local-farmers’ challenges for improved food security. “Farmers are adapting to innovative farming practises in terms of post harvest and crop diversification introduced by the think-tank”, she stressed.

Through the serious advocacy that was done in collaboration with the media, Mrs. Kumah also noted, that the Eastern Corridor road has been awarded on contract while part of the Nawuni road constructed under the Millennium Development Authourity project.

Challenges encountered in the first phase implementation

The Programmes and Advocacy Officer of GDCA observed that during the implementation of the E4L programme, a number of challenges were encountered some of which had to do with difficulty in getting civil society organizations with funds to replicate the SfL model in other areas and difficulty in getting qualified female instructors to teach children in their mother tongue.

According to her, the MMDAs and other duty bearers also failed to support development advocacy activities during the period under review while at certain times, deliberate attempts were made to escape from advocacy groups and duty bearer engagement programmes.

Under the second phase which spans from 1^st January 2012 to December 31, 2014, project officers of the various projects under the E4L programme would continue to address some of the issues that came up during the first phase implementation.

They would advocate for the inclusion of community action plans in the Medium Term Development Plans of MMDAs, the share of the MPs Common Fund, the use of the District Development Fund and the District Assembly Common Fund by MMDAs and advocate for a common yam market in the Eastern part of the Northern Region.

Other advocacy issues to consider include advocating for streamlining of the National Youth Employment Programme, sensitization on the possibilities of the NYEP programme and its limitations, work with duty bearers and stakeholders to create trust in the programme by ensuring fair and accurate recruitment, work towards the introduction of pre- and post-recruitment reviews in the programme and advocate for the decentralization of the National Youth Council at the local level.

Also, there would be CBE Policy strategic workshops to fast track the policy including a national forum as well as organize exhibitions to advertise Learning and Development Centres to the Ghana Education Service and other stakeholders.

Tamale Girls SHS Besets With Water, Sanitation Problems

There is looming cholera outbreak and other sanitation related diseases such as Hepatitis A and E at the Tamale Girls Senior High School otherwise known as Pagnaa in Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana, if serious steps are not taken immediately to provide the school with good sanitary facilities and permanent source of clean water.

According to the Headmistress of the School, Hajia Mariama Mohammed, the over 1,500 student population has only 6-seater toilet facility and one twin bathhouse for their use.

Let us remember, that these are girls; we must not expose them to any form of danger, she said, adding “I said this at one of our PTA Executive meetings last term, and after a visit to the nearest bush the team found it expedient to build the school a 20-seater toilet facility without delay. That project is currently ongoing and is at window level,” the headmistress mentioned.

Delivering a report at the Second Speech and Prize Giving Day Celebration of Pagnaa, Hajia Mariama appealed to the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly for another 20-seater toilet facility in order to accommodate the problem and to also keep the environment safe from the outbreak of any epidemic, which she noted, could be eminent. The celebration which was under the theme: “Educating the girl-child for development: The role of Tamale Girls Senior High”, also coincided with the inauguration of the school’s cadet corps.

An improved sanitation facility is one that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact. An improved drinking-water source is one that by the nature of its construction adequately protects the source from outside contamination, in particular from faecal matter. The Tamale Girls SHS has no good source of drinking water on its campus except to depend on water tanker services and a dam outside the school premises. The inadequate number of toilet facilities available for use has compelled most students to defecate in nearby bushes around the school.

Thus, the prevailing situation at Pagnaa per the headmistress report definitely puts the entire student population at risk of contracting cholera, Hepatitis A or E which modes of transmission are often linked to poor sanitation practices such as open defecation and others. In other words, eating or drinking water mixed with an infected person’s excreta could lead to Hepatitis A or E infections, which are both serious liver diseases.

Among other challenges facing the school include lack of sporting facilities and laboratory equipment as well as inadequate ICT and library facilities to complement teaching. As a result, the school authourities have adopted a shift system regarding the use of the library and ICT centre which are so small in size whereas science students travelled to Ghana Senior High School (Ghanasco) for their practicals.

Hajia Mariama further appealed to the public and benevolent organizations to help the school build structures for the harvest of rain water so as to enable them overcome the erratic or acute water problem on campus. She equally called on government to provide the school with modern science laboratory equipments and teachers bungalows to ensure quality tuition and discipline on campus.

The Minister for Communications and Member of Parliament for Tamale South Constituency, Haruna Iddrisu who was at the event, promised to put up an ultra modern ICT centre and also help the school develop its sports field to nurture talents in various disciplines.

From a humble and struggling beginning in 1998 with an initial modest enrollment figure of 64 girls, the school currently occupies a 74 acre piece of land in a community called Wamale, off the Tamale-Yendi road. And for four consecutive years now, Tamale Girls SHS or Pagnaa has recorded 100% at the annual West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Moreover, from a heavily burdened 36 teachers, the number has grown to 72 and increasing their effectiveness. The Ghana Education Trust Fund is constructing a 12-unit one-storey classroom block for the school. Other projects under construction include a 2-storey dormitory block, a 6-unit classroom block and a fence wall.

The Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs Hajia Hawawu Boya-Gariba who was Guest of Honour, called for a holistic approach towards female education in Northern Ghana in order to boost their confident levels in the face of numerous challenges in society.

According to her, despite numerous interventions being put in place by government and non-governmental organizations to increase enrollment levels of females in school in the Northern Region in particularly, the situation had not significantly improved.

She noted for instance, that in 2002 and 2003, 76% of girls were in primary school, 55% in Junior High Schools and 48% in Senior High Schools and the situation remained like that up till 2008. Adding that, it was shock when a Ghana Demographic and Health Survey revealed that 65% of females had no form of formal education in the region and that for those in school, 74% of the girls could not read and less than 7% progresses beyond the SHS.

Meanwhile, a total of eighty-two (82) students were awarded for excelling in various subject areas with Miss Laafia P. Grace, a final year student emerging as the overall best student. Like her colleagues, she was given a certificate and books.

Sexual Reproductive Health Services In Northern Region Beset With Challenges

It is left with four (4) years for member countries of the United Nations to attain goals 4 and 5 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which are among other eight set targets, but it appears Ghana is not doing well enough to achieve these goals.

Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the MDGs provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions such as poverty and hunger, universal basic education, gender equity, child health, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability and global partnership. The MDGs 4 and 5 actually aims at reducing by two-thirds the ratio of under-five mortality rate and reducing by three-quarters the maternal mortality ratio by 2015.

However, government’s budget allocation for contraceptives mostly used by women according to NORSAAC, a non-governmental organization, has dwindled over the years, without government giving any recourse to the consequences or the effects of the non-availability of those commodities. Statistics from the NGO revealed that between 2003 and 2010, government’s contribution towards the purchase of contraceptives was averagely below 25% while huge support from donors’ ranged from 59% to 89%. So, in the event that the donors withdraw their support, what that means is that, Ghana is going to face a very serious challenge with regards to managing reproductive health issues which already is on the negative side.

Other statistics available also estimates that the practice of family planning in the region was 26% in 2008, 28.8% in 2009 and 24.3% in 2010. According to statistics from the Public Health Unit of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), in 2008, a total of 5,764 men in the region were practicing family planning, whiles in 2009, the figure rose to 10,717 men. In 2010, there was a decline in the number, from over 10,000 to a little over 8,500, which is an indication that less number of men were practicing family planning in that year.

As a result, there is growing uncontrolled child-bearing and sexual habits among the people of the region most especially adults or married couples. According to the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), only 6% of married women in the region between 15 and 49 years used contraceptives. This, coupled with strong sexual desire among adolescents is further contributing to more teenage pregnancies which could have been avoided through the use of condoms and other forms of contraceptives.

Besides, the number of children between the ages of 1 and 15 constitute about 47% of the total population of the whole region, and about 23% of young girls between ages 12 and 19 are already mothers or are currently pregnant. Currently, the average number of children per every single woman in the region is 6.8% representing about 7 children per woman as against the maximum national figure of 4 children per a woman, according to the GDHS.

Also, in 2009, 96 women died in the region during childbirth, 91 in 2008 while 115 women died in 2007, according to the GHS. So, as the deadline (2015) for the achievement of the MDGs 4 and 5 targets approaches, the situation becomes more worrying to all stakeholders in the health sector.

Thus, health authorities in the Northern Region currently attributes the acute cases of maternal and infant mortality rates to the drastic reduction in the number of midwives and other critical health personnel.

Speaking at a media soiree organized by the Northern Regional Chapter of the Coalition of NGOs in Health in Tamale, Janet Ackon, a Public Health Nurse at the Reproductive and Child Health Unit of the Tamale Sub-Metro Hospital, called on the government to increase the number of midwifery training schools or admission of students to these colleges in the region in order to boost the current number of midwives in the system.

She said at present the region has only one midwifery school (Tamale Nursing and Midwifery Training College), a situation that is negatively affecting child delivery in hospitals across the region.

The program which was on the theme: “Sexual And Reproductive Health Services And Rights,” was aimed at creating a platform for the media, the coalition and health service providers in the region to work together effectively to bring about enormous improvement in healthcare delivery especially in the area of sexual and reproductive health.

Madam Ackon said most of the midwives currently in active service in the region were old and would soon go on retirement, hence the need for adequate measures to be put in place to replace them. Ghana faces the danger of not meeting the MDGs on maternal and infant mortality if the leadership fails to address the situation, she stressed.

Mrs. Ninang Albertina, a Public Health Nurse at the Savelugu/Nanton District Hospital also observed that the nursing profession was in danger because most of the personnel were practicing out of personal considerations and not the desire to save lives or show love and care to the sick.

According to her, there was the need for intensive education to re-orient parents’ way of thinking and those entering the profession to know that nursing was of service and self sacrifice and not for personal gains.

Mrs. Catherine Mwine of the GHS also encouraged parents to discuss sexual matters with their children to help reduce wrong sexual behaviours among the youth.

She said lack of resources to carry out outreach programs on adolescent health and funds to train health personnel were some of the challenges hindering effective healthcare delivery.

Meanwhile, Mr. Moses Azabu, Regional Chairman of the Coalition said there was the need for adequate funding for NGOs to carry out their work effectively. He, therefore, appealed to donor partners and philanthropists to come to the aid of NGOs in the Northern Region.