At the end of Ghana’s 2016 General
Elections, the New Patriotic Party led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, got an
emphatic nod from the people of Ghana to take over the national administration
of the country from the ruling National Democratic Congress. The New Patriotic
Party administration was inaugurated in January, 2017.
MANIFESTO
Agriculture development is a
fundamental requirement to national development. After all, food which is
produced from farming is one of the three basic necessities of life. In view of
this it does not surprise me at all that the New Patriotic Party made their
intentions about agriculture clear in their manifesto. Indeed all parties have
their manifestoes to guide them in the running of the nation, including
specific manifestoes on agriculture.
The New Patriotic Party’s manifesto on
agriculture has a vision to:
“modernize agriculture, improve production efficiency, achieve
food security, and profitability for our farmers, all aimed at significantly
increasing agriculture productivity”.
5 PILLARS
Out of the manifesto
came a campaign slogan: “Planting for Foods and Jobs”. The campaign was
launched on April 19, 2017 at Goaso in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The
campaign which ultimately aims at drawing all Ghanaians into farming (reminds
me of Operation Feed Yourself) rolls out a program based on the following key
five pillars:
(1) the provision of improved seeds,
(2) supply of fertilizers,
(3) provision of dedicated extension services,
(4) marketing arrangements to ensure zero post-harvest
losses and
(5) an electronic platform to capture and monitor the
activities of the participating farmers.
IMPLEMENTATION
Under this campaign slogan the New
Patriotic Party administration commits itself to taking Ghana through an
agricultural revolution! But at what environmental cost is this revolution
going to take place? The program is initially targeting up to 200,000 farmers.
Chiefs have started giving out land
for the implementation of the program. Fresh land (forest) given out for the program
are going to be cleared, ploughed and treated with fertilizer (one of the key 5
pillars of program).
COST
If land is cleared, ploughed and
treated with chemical fertilizer what is going to happen is that ecosystem,
biodiversity, habitat and soil balance would be compromised. Indeed this is
what many a large scale food agriculture have left in their trail.
In clearing a fresh land (forest)
trees will be lost. Now look at the critical gap you are going to create by
permanently cutting trees. A dysfunction will be caused in for example the
carbon cycle. Trees take in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to use in the
process of photosynthesis, and thereby release oxygen into the atmosphere.
Please note that excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is part of the cause
of global warming so in reducing the number trees here on planet Earth you are
compounding the problem. Also note that the oxygen trees release into the
atmosphere is the oxygen you breathe in to sustain your life.
After clearing the land earth is
slashed and broken through plowing. What plowing does is in breaking earth it
slashes soil organisms that are engaged in the processing of nutrients for plants.
In clearing the land habitats of
organisms are destroyed and lost. Interdependence of organisms with the
environment to ensure a balance in the natural environment will be disrupted,
destroyed and lost.
PRECAUTION
If this is the way the New Patriotic Party’s planting for food and
jobs program is going to go then the program is not going to be a sustainable
food agriculture. What I mean is that the program may produce as much food as
we want for this current generation but posterity may come to meet a barren
natural environment. There may be nothing to bequeath to posterity.
SUSTAINABILITY- THE WAY TO GO
The solution to the problem then is sustainable food
agriculture. Agriculture that should not compromise balance in the natural
environment. Nutrients in the soil should be replenished organically, for
example. Use of extension officers has been named as one of the key five pillars
of the program. That is good because I suppose the extension officers have
expertise in sustainable trends in so far as natural environment preservation
goes, more so as a critical matter in our day of climate change.
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