The number of people facing hunger and food insecurity has risen since 2015, exacerbated by the pandemic, conflict, climate change, and growing inequalities. Agricultural households constitute up to two-thirds of people living in extreme poverty worldwide. Under current trends, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030, implying no progress on SDG2 (UNFSS, 2023).
ActionAid Ghana (AAG) has, over the past three decades, worked closely with other CSOs, especially the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) and other collaborators, to promote agroecology practices and the development of climate adaptation strategies that protect the environment and build the resilience of the ecosystem. The preservation of indigenous seeds is in line with ActionAid Ghana’s focus area of promoting agroecology and food sovereignty under the Strategic Priority (SP) to ensure a green economy and resilient livelihoods.
The AAG-funded seminar, dubbed “Achieving Food Sovereignty: The Role of Indigenous Seed Development in Ghana,” collaborated with the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR). The purpose of the conference, which was held in Ghana’s Bono Region, is to increase public understanding of the significance of indigenous seed development and the value of locally grown seeds in strengthening Ghana’s food system’s resilience to shocks from the global economy and climate change.
The seminar brought together various stakeholders, including smallholder women farmers from Bono, Ahafo, Bono East, Upper East, Upper West, and the Northern Regions of Ghana, civil society organizations (CSOs) from the Agroecology Movement, researchers from the UENR, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Agriculture, the Forestry Commission, the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), right-holder organizations such as Activista, and the Young Urban Women Movement.
Observations
Drawing from the speeches, research presentations, plenary discussions, and breakout sessions, the participants made the following observations:
- Food sovereignty is the right of people to define their own food and agricultural systems without external influences or interference, and farmers, particularly smallholder women farmers, have the right to choose their mode of production, which is a symbol of freedom and cultural heritage for a specific people or area. Ghana needs to protect her identity.
- That there has been rapid extinction of critical indigenous seeds such as late millet, sorghum, rice, corn, beans, Bambara beans, and okro in the country because of farmers’ reliance on commercial seeds, which leads to a cycle of dependency that can be economically challenging and ecologically demanding.
- That evidence has shown that indigenous seeds promote sustainable agricultural practices because they require fewer or no chemical inputs like pesticides and fertilizers. Indigenous seeds are better adaptable to local climate conditions, making them more resilient to climate change effects such as droughts or erratic rainfall patterns.
- That some of our indigenous seeds and food varieties are becoming endangered across the country due to the changing preference for food taste with the influx of hybrid seeds and food and the lack of government policies and programs that guide and provide the framework to safeguard, multiply, and protect key indigenous seeds from extinction.
- That the promotion of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and other patented technologies creates legal and economic barriers for smallholder farmers, limiting their rights to save and exchange seeds. The ramifications of the approval for the recent commercialization of 14 genetically modified organism (GMO) products, comprising eight (8) maize and six (6) soya bean,” by the National Biosafety Authority in Ghana cannot be ignored and will further exacerbate the extinction of key indigenous seeds.
- That smallholder farmers, especially women farmers, have a crucial role in maintaining and improving indigenous seeds (Global Alliance for the Future of Food, 2016). Seeds produced from the same production areas (seeds are well familiar with the production and environmental factors) are far better for a sustainable production system. They are the sources of many different genes and the foundation of agricultural science.
- That indigenous seed development to achieve food sovereignty requires the collective effort of farmers, government agencies, and deliberate government policies and programs to multiply, preserve, and store these indigenous seeds to avoid the seeds becoming extinct.
- That over the years, CSOs in the agroecology space, including ActionAid, CIKOD, etc., have piloted strategies for promoting seed sovereignty in Ghana, working with smallholder women farmers. These strategies include the construction of seedbanks using local materials, the use of indigenous materials to store the seeds, and training on the preservation and storage of indigenous seeds. This notwithstanding, advocacy for the promotion of indigenous seeds to achieve food sovereignty in Ghana is low.
Recommendations
Following deliberations at the seminar, ActionAid Ghana and Partners recommend:
- There is a need for the government, through the Ministry for Food and Agriculture, to take steps to urgently promulgate the formulation of government policies and programs that target all food crops, including neglected local and indigenous crop varieties known to be more adaptable to local conditions and have high nutritional value. This will continue to protect and preserve indigenous seeds rather than promote hybrid seeds and other genetically modified organisms and products.
- The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Agriculture, should take steps to organize training programs for smallholder farmers, especially women farmers, to identify, multiply, preserve, and salvage local seeds and other plant varieties or cultivars that are going extinct to promote sustainable agricultural practices and achieve food and seed sovereignty.
- The need for an effective sustainable agricultural system by improving Planting for Food and Jobs phase II to incentivize local indigenous seed production through increased investment in agroecology in Ghana.
- Civil society organizations (CSOs) and other likeminded organizations to intensify their advocacy for the rejection of the 14 genetically modified organisms (GMOs) products that were recently approved by the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) and any other approvals to safeguard indigenous seeds in Ghana.
- Smallholder women farmers play a crucial role in maintaining and improving indigenous seeds in Ghana; hence, government policies and programs should be geared towards providing the requisite technical and financial support to play a key role in the identification, protection, and preservation of indigenous seeds.
- Concerted efforts need to be encouraged to sensitize citizens to use and patronize local seeds and food to safeguard our heritage and culture and achieve food sovereignty.
