Introduction
The African continent is experiencing an
expanding population. Producing enough food to feed this ever increasing
population who are mostly in the rural areas, engaged in smallholder farming while
mitigating climate change and conserving the environment is the key challenge
of the century. Many researchers and policy makers have concluded that the
solution to these challenges is increasing agricultural productivity
irrespective of the means. Over the years, governments have pursued agricultural
intensification which involved mechanization, use of inorganic fertilizers, use
of improved seeds aimed at increasing agricultural productivity. While
agricultural intensification has increased agricultural productivity
marginally, smallholder farmers located in the rural areas have not improved
their welfare as most of them are becoming poorer and poorer due to land degradation, deforestation,
over-extraction of groundwater, and increased greenhouse gas emissions.
Though, food is not enough to feed the ever increasing population
in sub-Saharan African countries, the loss through harvesting, storage,
packing, transportation and cooking leaves much to be desired. Many of the
meals prepared and eaten by the rural smallholder farmers lack the necessary
nutrients required for growth, protection against diseases and energy.
This intervention project proposal aims at introducing and up
scaling Conservation and Nutrition Sensitive Agricultural (CaNSA) in the rural
areas of Ghana. Conservation Agriculture (CA) as
explained by Food and Agriculture Organization is an approach to managing
agro-ecosystems for improved and sustained productivity, increased profits and
food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the
environment. It is a farming system that encourages the maintenance of
permanent soil cover, minimum soil disturbance (zero tillage) and diversification
of plant species. The specific objectives of this CaNSA project are to:
1. Increase smallholder
farmers’ knowledge and benefits about CaNSA
2. Introduce CA
technologies to smallholder farmers and help them to adopt these technologies.
3. Introduce nutrition
sensitive agricultural technologies to smallholder farmers and help them to
adopt these technologies
4. Introduce improved postharvest
management technologies to smallholder farmers and help them to adopt these
technologies
5. Form cooperatives for
small holder farmers as community sourcing to cut down cost of production and
boost productivity.
Method
The project intends to
use participatory approach to achieve the objectives. This will involve the
bottom-up approach were local smallholder farmers will be thoroughly engaged in
the establishment of demonstration plots. Under this, farmers and agricultural
extension agents (AEAs) will be trained on conservation and nutrition sensitive
agriculture through farmer field schools on the demonstration plots. The CA
practices to be introduced to farmers for adoption are minimal or zero tillage,
permanent organic cover and diversification of crop species grown in sequences
or association.
On the demonstration
farms, the participant male and female smallholder farmers will be taught how
to incorporate fertility-enhancing plants such as leguminous forages, shrubs,
cover crops, and grain legumes as well as animal droppings to improve the
fertility of the soil thereby minimizing the use of chemical fertilizers for cost
reduction without compromising the yield of crops. The efforts of CA will be complemented through the use
of animal manure, zero burning of the fields, zero tillage, mulching etc. The
participants will be continuously assisted in terms of helping them to acquire
the knowledge and skills required for them to be successful conservation
agriculturists. Before the implementation, a baseline survey will be conducted
and this will be compared with an end line survey. Also, the results from
demonstration plots and the control plots will be compared.
Nutrition sensitive agriculture will also be
propagated. Vitamins and bio-fortified varieties of crops will
be promoted as the seeds that will be used for the demonstration and given to
farmers in kind will contain minerals needed for growth. Nutrition value chain – starting with nutrient-rich seeds and soils
that will improve the quality of the crops, and extending across the food
system to other elements like food safety, food processing, food fortification
and proper food preparation and consumption in households. Food crops from
these farms and the fortified foods will be demonstrated on groups of children
as against another group that will be fed on their old crops, and their growths
monitored as evidence of the benefits of nutrition sensitive agriculture.
Once production is
increased, there is the need for loss prevention during harvesting, transport,
storage and processing. Farmers will be trained on basic improved storage
technologies, food processing (such as fruits into juices in their season) and
preservation. Food
processing is essential for making nutritionally rich foods, such as fruits,
vegetables and dairy products, available year-round.
To
enable the rural smallholder farmers improve household food security, nutrition
and the economic status of their family and the community, the CaNSA Initiative
will link farmers to market through providing electronic platform where each
actors (input dealers, farmers and traders) can access market information.
Farmers will be linked to produce aggregators and processors to ensure
guaranteed market. Produce from these farms will be incorporated into the
school feeding program, which will serve as a ready market, while improving on
the nutrition status of these school children. Monitoring and evaluation will be ensured at all stages
of the project through direct feedback from the farmers and also indirectly
through the trained agricultural extension agents. Strategies that are working
will be improved and those that are not working will be reassessed during the
life cycle of the project.
3. Expected
Results
It
is expected that, at the end of the project, 95% of the participants will adopt
conservation and nutrition sensitive agricultural practices. The spill-over
effects are expected as non-participants will see the benefits of CaNSA and
adopt the package. It is also expected that land degradation, soil erosion and
soil fertility loss will be reduced by 75%. This will ensure sustainable
agriculture. Malnutrition which is highly prevalent in farm families will be
reduced at the end of the implementation of CaNSA project.
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