By Rachel Kakraba
The University of Ghana (UG) in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and its Partners, with funding from the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture project – “Enhancing the production and consumption of African indigenous fruits and vegetables to improve nutrition in Ghana and Mali” are advocating for the consumption of indigenous crops with particular reference to fruits and vegetables.
Indigenous fruits and vegetables which are grown locally usually on a small scale, are known to have high nutritive value, are often resistant to diseases and tolerant to environmental stresses. However, they have not been mainstreamed in the staple diets due to the fact that consumers complain about their unavailability in large quantities, poor postharvest management as well as the lack of awareness of their nutritional quality.
Stakeholders met in the University of Ghana to validate findings from the analysis of the value chain of the four indigenous fruits and vegetables (namely turkey berries, cocoyam leaves, garden eggs and okra) and engage in meaningful discussions to formulate actionable policy recommendations that will support the integration of these indigenous fruits and vegetables into the diets of Ghanaians.
The well patronized workshop brought together representatives from the Project Consortium Partners, various sector Ministries, Private Sector, Regulatory agencies, Civil Society Organizations, the Media, and farmer groups among others.
In his opening remarks, the Executive Director of FARA, Dr Aggrey Agumya stated that “It is important to recognize the strategic significance of the event, in that, Indigenous fruits and vegetables not only improve diets, they are also essential in strengthening the resilience of food systems. They also provide opportunities for smallholder framers to generate income”
He mentioned that the African Union Commission and AUDA are coordinating the crafting of the agenda for the next phase of CAADP, wherein indigenous vegetables feature strongly in this agenda within the nutrition agenda and the resilience agenda. Recommendations have been crafted calling for the integration of indigenous food systems and knowledge into national and regional food and nutrition security plans and in resilience plans.
He expressed concern that scientists in the tertiary education institutions are spread very thin across the growing number of colleges and universities. The very rapid growth in student enrollment in most colleges and universities has meant that faculty are fully programmed with teaching responsibilities. With few research facilities, little budget, and little time available for academic staff to allocate to research activities, the scale and scope of agricultural research at the colleges and universities is quite limited.
He underscored the need for stronger collaboration between research, extension and education actors at country level. He said ‘this need is demonstrated by these numbers: It is estimated by IFPRI that 80% of funding for agricultural research goes to the NAROs (and 20% to the universities), facilities, infrastructure; while 80% of the Africa’s agricultural scientists qualified to do serious research are located at colleges and universities.
The Consultant, Eric Worlanyo Deffor, sharing highlights of his findings, noted that although the four crops studied have immense potential, they are confronted with some challenges.
He indicated that “The project is basically looking at the value chain for indigenous crops, looking at okra, kontomire, garden eggs, and turkey berry, from the production right up to the marketing and consumption. From the highlights, there is potential for growing these crops, but for now farmers still have lots of challenges. Challenges related to access to finance and inputs.”
He added, “The whole agenda is also to make sure that we can promote turkey berries, especially as an export commodity within Ghana, because of the health values that are associated with it.”
Speaking to some of the recommendations, Mr. Deffor, said, “We want to look at how we can modernize our transport system to be able to convey our vegetables from the farm gate to the farms so that we still keep them intact and also maintain safety along the value
The Project lead, Dr. Gloria L. Essilfie who is a Postharvest and Food Safety Specialist at the Department of Crop Science, University of Ghana, said the project “Enhancing the production and consumption of African Indigenous fruits and vegetables to improve diets in Ghana and Mali” covers five areas, including identification and characterisation of selected indigenous fruits and vegetables, conducting value chain analysis of the selected indigenous crops, as well as improving postharvest handling and preservation of indigenous fruits and vegetables.
Other areas are the establishment of an Incubator for enterprises involved in or would be involved in the selected indigenous fruit and vegetables and finally, the dissemination of processes, technologies, and methods for prolonging the shelf-life of selected indigenous fruits and vegetables and creating awareness of the importance of indigenous fruits and vegetables.
This she noted will go a long way to influencing policy to enhance the production and consumption of the fruit and vegetables to improve diets.
Dr. Essilfie explained that the value chain component of the project will provide a better understanding of the vegetable and fruit value chain for large-scale production.
According to her, “They are nutritious, but you know, some are volunteer crops and thus are not produced intentionally, making them unavailable in large quantities. So, we are conducting this value chain analysis to really understand the whole value chain, provide a better understanding of the different nodes of the value chain, leverage points in terms of investment and entrepreneurship opportunities, and policy, legal and governance frameworks affecting the trade of indigenous produce markets.”
She called for concerted efforts in creating awareness on the benefits of Indigenous vegetables and fruits.
The Director of the Food Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof. Charles Tortoe, who delivered the keynote address during the policy dialogue on the theme “The Role of Indigenous Fruits and Vegetables in Enhancing Ghana’s Food System” indicated that indigenous vegetables and fruits have immense potential yet untapped, adding that linkages in the value chain must be enhanced for maximum benefit.
“We can also look at them in the sense of superfoods. That means they have this quality of nutrition of which we can tap in and make good use in terms of our nutrition needs as a country and even beyond our jurisdiction. There are some that come with very interesting antioxidants and anti-inflammatory as well as anti-carbohydrate properties.”
He said it is unfortunate that deforestation, bush burning, and illegal mining are contributing to the extinction of most Indigenous crops.
“A lot of these indigenous crops, which I’m sure when you were a kid you were familiar with, go back to your community and you can’t find them again. These are the challenges we are facing with illegal logging, deforestation, and bushfires, especially the dry season, is also another challenge.”
Prof. Tortoe said data on the nutritional value of these indigenous crops could significantly improve its acceptance and called for investment in the sector. Prof. Tortoe encouraged the public to integrate indigenous fruits and vegetables into their eating habits.
“We need to integrate our indigenous crops into our food system so we can gain from it. We do agree that the indigenous crops in Ghana hold immense potential to enhance our food system, to promote our health and to support sustainable agriculture” He said investing in effective harvesting and storage technologies would also go a long way in addressing some of the challenges that confront the sector.
There was a panel discussion where discussants advocated deliberate plans and strategies that would help promote indigenous vegetables and fruits. Some recommendations were generated to be translated into policies.
