World Food Day marked. Minister calls for pragmatic solution to effects of climate change
The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Alhaji Muhammed Muniru Limuna, has asked stakeholders in the agriculture sector to support the government to proffer pragmatic solutions to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture sustainability and food security.
Advertisement
He said climate change posed a great challenge to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that a multi-faceted approach was the way forward to comprehensively address it.
In a speech delivered on his behalf at a flag-hoisting ceremony to mark the 36th World Food Day (WFD) in Accra yesterday, Alhaji Limuna called for the adaptation of innovative agricultural practices such as improved crop varieties, crop rotation, agro-forestry and cover cropping to mitigate the negative impact of climate change.
This year’s edition was held on the theme: “Climate is Changing: Food and Agriculture Must too” and brought together stakeholders in the agriculture sector, as well as international agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP), Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the academia.
Effects of climate change
Alhaji Limuna observed that the negative effect of climate change could erode the gains the country had made in other sectors of the economy, for which reason it was important for the academia, policy makers and the private sector to come up with comprehensive strategies to deal with it.
“Climate change is a threat to the global development prospects and the strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It stands to reason that to be able to feed the growing population in the country, agricultural and food systems need to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and become more resilient by adopting agricultural practices that produce more food with less inputs”, he said.
Human actions
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), Mrs Sherry Ayittey, said the indiscriminate human activities on the environment accounted for the increasing menace of climate change and asked for prompt action to reverse the trend.
“In the fisheries sector, climate change has brought about rising sea levels, fluctuating sea temperatures, loss of productive spawning grounds, harmful algae bloom, emergent sea diseases, among others.
“We cannot continue to give mere speeches about climate change and its impact. All who matter must begin to act to ensure food security and a sustainable agriculture sector”, she added.
According to her, MoFAD had instituted the Fishermen Life Insurance Scheme (FLIS) as a measure to protect the businesses of fishermen in the event of any calamity.
She said the ministry was also collaborating with the Youth Employment Agency to employ more than 2,000 youth to work on the Coastal Protection Planting of Coconut Trees (CPPCT) initiative, which is aimed at safeguarding the sea.
Best practices
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, in a speech read on his behalf, urged farmers, fishermen and other players in the agriculture sector to desist from activities that destroy the environment.
He called on the public, especially farmers, to avoid crude farming methods and embrace the use of modern farming technologies to enhance food production in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Other speakers at the ceremony shared in the call for inter-sectorial approach to tackling the issue of climate change so as to enhance food production and ensure food security.
