Experts in agroecology, a farming system that seeks to protect the environment, have advocated for the adoption of a national plan to promote the use of sustainable agricultural methods.
They cautioned that the excessive application of fertilisers to crops and the use of weedicides was dangerous for human health and the preservation of essential plant and animal species.
The experts made the call at a panel discussion as part of a networking event hosted by Innohub, under the Agroecology Venture Accelerator Programme.
The Agroecology Venture Accelerator is an initiative of The Schmidt Family Foundation and the 11th Hour project, implemented by Innohub.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations describes agroecology as a holistic and integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agriculture and food systems.
It seeks to optimise the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment
while also addressing the need for socially equitable food systems within which people can exercise choice over what they eat and how and where it is produced.
Mr Wilberforce Laate, Deputy Executive Director, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development, said the excessive reliance on fertilisers for productivity was not sustainable and cautioned that the country could lose its food sovereignty in future.
‘We are losing control of our production system. We are losing food sovereignty. Agroecology ensures food sovereignty. It is a sustainable way of protecting the soils we are farming and the environment,’ he said.
Mr Edwin Kweku Andoh Baffour, Communications Director, Food Sovereignty Ghana, said more investments were required to scale up agroecology adoption in Ghana and appealed to the Government to ‘show political will’ and reject farming practices that endanger the environment.
‘We must be intentional about agroecology and put in the right investments to own and protect what we eat,’
he said.
Ms Rosemond Afua Afful, Chief Executive Officer, Ayden Ventures, and agroecology farmer urged farmers who practised agroecology to embrace technology and seek knowledge on best practices to boost productivity.
She appealed to the Government to provide incentives for farmers who were dedicated to sustainable farming practices to enable them to scale up.
‘The future is very bloomy if we depend solely on chemicals. Most of our local seeds are going extinct and we must protect them,’ Ms Afful said.
Source: Ghana News Agency