Food and nutrition security can only be achieved in Ghana by incorporating science and technology in the agriculture value chain. That’s according to Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, founding director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement at the University of Ghana.
Speaking at the World Hunger Day Celebration, Professor Danquah emphasized that if thorough decisions are made to encourage science, technology and innovation in agriculture, the country would not need programmes like Planting for Food and Jobs.
“We have to do things differently, we must confront the pressing of food insecurity. We must understand that General Kutu Acheampong tried a variant of Planting for Food and Jobs so we can deduce that it is not Planting for Food and Jobs, it is about self-reliance so we do not have to wait for seeds to come from South Africa, France, Israel etc, before farmers can access quality seeds to plant. It is about science, technology and innovation. It is about developing our seed systems and strengthening the commodity value chain,” he said.
According to Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Yaw Frimpong Addo, hunger will be a thing of the past should every citizen engage in backyard farming, hunger will be a thing of the past.
“We’ve lived with hunger over the years, during my childhood, we used to walk miles just to get food to bring back to the village. 60 years on and we’re still talking about hunger whereas now we should be talking about processing and preservation. We’re still where we are because we have not made use of science and technology. However, we can contribute to ending hunger if every household will engage in backyard farming,” he urged.
Executive Director of Alliance for Science, Dr. Sheila Ochugboju highlighted that food insecurity goes beyond satisfying hunger and food availability but impacts generational thinking.
“I remember growing up at a village in Nigeria at age 9 where I wasn’t hungry but I wasn’t secure. If the large part of the day of a child is focused on what to eat or the thought of food is what drives anyone’s day, then they are not food secure. We have so many people around the world who are not hungry but food insecure. This creates a vulnerability that caps their potentials and if not properly addressed, we’ll be doing the next generation grave injustice,” she said.
May 28 is marked as World Hunger Day to commemorate efforts toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2. This year’s World Hunger Day was themed, “Honour Farmers for a Food Secure Country”.
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