Author: lwadmin

African countries need to promote substantial investments in agriculture and provide the needed support to smallholder farmers to ensure sustainable food security for their people.

Dr Christian Sewordor Mensah, Executive Director of the African Center for Business Incubation, who stated this, said there was a need for African leaders to work to address poor implementation of policies, inadequate investments, as well as limited support for smallholder farmers to ensure sustainable food production to feed the growing population in Africa.

In an article made available to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi, Dr Mensah observed that, though significant progress had been made over the years to address food insecurity in Africa, the Africa Union’s (AU) journey towards achieving its objectives was still ongoing.

He said the AU’s policies, strategic frameworks, and collaboration initiatives had undoubtedly contributed to improved agricultural productivity, resilience to climate change, and increased trade in agricultur
al goods.

The attention now lies on the slow implementation of policies and frameworks at the national level due to limited institutional capacity and political will.

Additionally, insufficient investment in agriculture, particularly in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as inadequate attention to the needs and constraints faced by women and marginalized groups within the agricultural sector, are significant factors.

Again, insufficient access to finance and markets for smallholder farmers, limiting their ability to participate in value chains and earn sustainable incomes as well as limited awareness and understanding of the importance of food security among the general population, impede efforts to mobilize support and resources.

Dr. Mensah assessing the AU’s achievement of food security objectives, said food security had been an enduring challenge for many African countries due to a variety of factors such as climate change, limited access to modern agricultural technologie
s, inadequate infrastructure, and political instability.

Recognizing the urgency of addressing this issue, the African Union, he said had established food security objectives to promote sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agricultural systems.

The AU has developed several policies and frameworks to tackle food security, notably the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Malabo Declaration.

The aim of the CAADP is to improve agricultural productivity and promote food security, while the Malabo Declaration sets targets to be achieved by 2025, including doubling productivity, halving post-harvest losses, and tripling intra-African trade in agricultural goods.

Again, the AU launched the African Agriculture Fund, supported by the African Development Bank, to finance agricultural projects in member states.

Furthermore, the creation of the Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) has attracted significant investments from both internal and external sources, which have contributed
to boosting agricultural productivity.

Dr. Mensah said recognizing that food security issues were beyond national borders, the AU had placed emphasis on strengthening collaboration and regional integration.

Efforts such as the Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aimed to remove trade barriers and promote agricultural trade among member countries are in place.

Other policies such as resilience to climate change, promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, agroforestry, and the development of climate-smart agriculture.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Officials of the Cookstove laboratory at the Institute of Industrial Research of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, (IIR-CSIR) are upbeat about the Centre’s readiness to play its role towards improving air quality.

They said the laboratory was well positioned to support the country and the continent to contribute to meeting climate action plans of reducing emissions from traditional cookstoves.

More than six out of ten homes in Ghana for instance cook using traditional cookstoves, which generate soot, which harm users especially women, and deteriorate the quality of air.

Dr Ferdinand Tornyie, a Scientist at CSIR-IIR, told the Ghana News Agency that although the Centre had existed for over 13 years, recent capacity building and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accreditation had enhanced its operation.

Through the Round Robin Testing Programme, an initiative supported by the United States of America’s Environmental Protection Agency and United Nations Foundation’s Clean
Cooking Alliance, the capacity of cookstove laboratories, including that of IIR-CSIR was built to meet international standards.

‘When you bring your stove here for testing, the results will be the same or similar to the result you will get from other labs in the world,’ he said.

He stated that the lab had become more relevant as the country sought to rigorously pursue clean cook technology to meet its climate actions of reducing emissions and also trading the carbon saved to support adaptation activities.

‘Per the current legislation instrument, an individual or company that wants to trade in an improved cookstove needs to secure test results from the CSIR-IIR lab before the relevant institutions such as Ghana Standard Authority and Energy Commission allows you to go ahead,’ he said.

Dr Tornyie said in a month, the lab could conduct ISO test on about 15 cookstoves, adding that the lab could do more with support to expand its facilities.

He said the lab scientists provided technical advice to companies, c
o-design stoves, test, and conduct user, adoption, and efficiency research.

The original mandate of the Center is to work to ensure the testing of stoves, supporting government and industry in the promotion of clean cooking solutions to reduce fuel use and providing access to improved stoves to replace inefficient stoves that produce soot linked to respiratory diseases.

‘The lab has upgraded and positioned itself in the scheme of things. We have taken the lead and due to its vibrancy our facility has been identified to host training for personnel from labs in other African countries and outside Africa,’ he said.

Dr Reginald Quansah, a Senior Lecture at the University of Ghana, Legion, said exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves and open fires – the primary means of cooking for many Ghanaians, caused premature deaths, with women and children particularly affected.

He noted that toxic cookstove smoke contributed to a range of chronic illnesses and acute health impacts such as pneumonia, bronchitis, c
ataracts, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, low birth weight and burns.

‘…In the case of pregnant mothers, the smoke particles get into the mother’s system and even travels to the baby’s system and interact with the growth,’ Dr Quansah said.

He noted that advanced cookstoves and cleaner fuels now existed and, if deployed at scale, could save millions of lives, while improving countless others, empowering women, creating opportunities for the poor, and reducing negative environmental impacts.

The World Health Organisation estimates that harmful cookstove smoke is the fifth leading cause of death in developing countries.

Reliance on biomass for cooking forces women and children to spend many arduous hours each week collecting fuel.

The use of biomass for cooking also increases pressures on natural resources and contributes to climate change at the regional and global level.

By dramatically reducing fuel use and exposure to harmful cooking smoke, clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels deliver a wide r
ange of health, environmental, livelihoods and gender benefits, while serving as a worthwhile investment that can rapidly offset the upfront costs.

Source: Ghana News Agency