The Upper West Regional Director of Agriculture, Emmanuel Sasu Yeboah is confident that the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) will not significantly affect food production in the Upper West Region. This is because farmers in various communities across the region have begun preparing their farmlands in anticipation of the rains while certified seed distributers have also begun bagging and distributing seeds to farmers.
Mr Sasu Yeboah again mentioned that all things being equal, the fertilizer suppliers under the Planting for Food and Jobs will begin transporting fertilizers to the region from May to allow for further sale and distribution to farmers. He said this while speaking to GBC at Wa.
According to the Regional Director of Agriculture, 6 commercial farmers in the Upper West Region being supported under the Savannah Zone Agriculture Productivity Investment Project (SAPIP) are already cultivating an estimated 3,000 acres of varied food products. This, Mr Sasu Yeboah said will in turn add to food being produced by small scale farmers and ensure that the Upper West Region is food secure.
Despite the sustained food production in the region, Mr Sasu Yeboah mentioned that the Coronavirus pandemic has had an economic impact on activities of the Department. He mentioned that trainings for farmers have had to be canceled or extended to enable the Department of Agriculture interact with farmers in small groups.
“We are unable to meet our farmers in larger groups to train them. That one it is a bit of a challenge. All the same, we try to get to the farmers through radio discussions, which are already part of the system that is used to disseminate information to farmers.”
“For critical ones that we need to meet the farmers, we have to ensure that the numbers that we are bringing together or going to meet are fewer so that we can practice adequate social distancing and that will certainly increase cost. For example if you can bring 40 farmers together and train all, now you will need to break them into two groups,” he explained.
The Regional Director of Agriculture cautioned input dealers to ensure farmers who patronize their places of business practice social distancing.
INPUT DEALERS LOSING OUT
Input dealers in the Upper West Region say that the impact of the COVID-19 on agriculture is huge and could in turn affect food production.
Speaking to GBC, the Director of Operations at Antika Farms Ltd, Seidu Abdulai Mubarik said due to the closure of most factories in China during the height of COVID-19 in the Asian country, most agro-chemical factories could not produce the needed chemicals for export to countries like Ghana. This, he said means the country is yet to take delivery of a number of key agro-chemicals that will help in food production.
At the local level, he mentioned that before the pandemic hit, Antika Farms Ltd used to engage the services of about 300 women to process about 900 bags of 50 kilograms of certified seeds a day for onward sale to farmers for planting. Mr Mubarik mentioned that because of the social distancing protocols, only 22 women have been engaged to process certified seeds. This he explained would mean that it will take a longer period to reach farmers across the region with the needed certified seeds for planting.
NEGATIVE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON AGRICULTURE IN THE UWR (TRADE AND PHL)
Speaking to GBC, a private Agribusiness and Trade Consultant, Emmanuel Wullingdool said despite the claims by the Upper West Regional Director of Agriculture that food production will not be significantly affected; other areas in the agriculture would be negatively impacted.
Mr Wullingdool mentioned the agriculture supply chain, income of farmers and food losses as the major areas that would be affected by the COVID-19.
He said due to the closure of most weekly markets in the Upper West Region large volumes of produce that could have been sold would be left to farmers who have little to no proper storage facilities to keep the food produce fresh. This means that farmers would be left with a lot of produce that will go bad in no time thereby multiplying the economic burden on rural poor farmers.
EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE IN THE UWR
According to the Agribusiness and Trade Consultant, Emmanuel Wullingdool, the worse affected persons in agriculture are women. This, Mr Wullingdool explained is because a huge number of players on the agriculture value chain are women.
“If you look at the supply chain, right from those at the market, those who do the transportation and those who do the farming, majority of them are women. Women have always and will continue to play a critical role in the agriculture system especially in the area of small scale farming,” he explained.
He continued to say that “the moment the women come into mind, you think about the children. It becomes a whole chain and you even begin to think of malnutrition. Once their [women] incomes are affected, how they are able to provide for their families is also affected”.
MITIGATING THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 IN AGRICULTURE IN THE UWR
Agribusiness and Trade Consultant, Emmanuel Wullingdool said to help relieve economic burden on farmers during the Coronavirus pandemic, government should consider registering and offering low or interest free loans to small scale farmers or other forms of incentives as is being done within the water and energy sector. He said this would allow farmers the liberty to feed their families while retaining enough money to finance their activities during the coming farming period in the Upper West Region.
Mr Wullingdool said to prevent post-harvest losses, government through the National Buffet Stock Company (NAFCo) should mop-up excess grains or cereals and perishables.
BOOSTING IMMUNE SYSTEMS AGAINST CORONAVIRUS
A Principal Nutritionist and Dietician at the Upper West Regional Hospital, Rauf Issah stated that good nutrition remained a key part of fighting diseases. He was however quick to add that “there is no single food that will boost your immunity on its own, however eating a well-balanced diet will help to improve your immune system to fend off diseases”.
Mr Issah defined a balanced diet as a meal that has adequate amounts of “carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals”. He recommended the consumption of limitless amount of fresh green leafy or root vegetables and well portioned fruits like mangoes, oranges, bananas, pawpaw, watermelons, shea fruits and all forms of berries which are inexpensive in the Upper West Region.
The Dietician also recommended “limiting the intake of processed and sugary foods, unhealthy fats and also high sodium foods” while increasing consumption of carbohydrates like sorghum, locally produced rice, millet, wheat and oats.
Mr Issah stressed that eating food to boost one’s immune system does not mean that the individual in question cannot contract the COVID-19.
Story filed by Mark Smith.
