POVERTY: Ghana: Investment in Agric is Key to Poverty Reduction

Mohammed Suleman, 30 August 2010
The country Director of SEND-Ghana, Mr Samuel Zan Akologo has called for more investment in smallholder agriculture as it could drive broadly-shared economic development and reduce poverty in the country.
According to him, the development of food production systems which support broad participation of small producers must be given pragmatic and political focus in Ghana's poverty reduction strategy.
"National and multilateral agricultural policies and international aid have not succeeded in nurturing agricultural opportunities for smallholder farmers. Too often, large-scale capital -intensive export have been promoted," he bemoaned.
He was speaking at a day's national stakeholder conference on smallholder agricultural development financing in Accra, last Wednesday.
It was organised by SEND-Ghana on the theme, "Investing in Smallholder Agriculture: The Ultimate Policy Choice for Ghana". Among other things, the conference sought to collate views and propose strategies on modalities for financing separate budget lines for smallholder agricultural development and develop a proposal for smallholder agricultural financing and to secure the commitment of government to increase and sustain resource flows to the smallholder sub-sector.
Mr Akologo observed that smallholder agricultural development is widely acknowledged as the most critically viable strategy for poverty reduction and food security for many countries, including Ghana. Besides, most of Ghana's impoverished populations derive their livelihoods from the smallholder sub-sector.
He maintained that the phenomenon of under investment in smallholder agriculture is partly explained by the absence of clear, separate and strategic financing scheme for the sub-sector.
"There is therefore the need for stakeholders to begin discussions on the subject of smallholder development financing to ensure its effective and sustainable development," he advised.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, shared the concerns of Mr. Akologo and noted that Ghana could not achieve its planned economic growth and poverty reduction without significant improvement on the performance of the agricultural sector.
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"We the policy makers have recognized the key role played by the smallholder farmers in the development of agricultural sector. We have also realized that our agricultural modernization policies are not specific enough, and not based on an understanding of the livelihoods of smallholders. Agricultural modernization must be gradual but sustained transition from subsistence to specialized production," he said.
The Minister disclosed as part of government's quest to help the smallholder farmers, special provision has been made to enable smallholder farmer groups to acquire small tractors for their use.
The ultimate, he explained, would be the adoption of improved variety of food crops and breeds of live stock, increased food production and improving employment
"I wish to emphasize that the Ministry appreciate the immense contribution of the smallholder farmers in food production and we will not relent in our efforts to provide all necessary support to the smallholder farmers," he added.
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