School farms for Food Security

Topic: “Promoting access and availability of food in Senior High Schools in Ghana through the adoption of School Farms.”

Sub Topic: Creating avenues that promotes the sustainability of the school farms.

Official Hashtag: #GHSchFarms

Twitter Handle: @GHSchoolFarms

Date: 30th & 31st January, 2015

Time: 15:00GMT – 18:00GMT

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Organised by: ROFLM

The project is a stakeholder Project between the school, the local Ministry of Food and Agriculture, local government representative and the local traditional head.

The schools hosted the project, the ministry of food and agriculture provided free consultation and technical know-how as part of the ministry’s extension service and the school provided the land and minor labor, where the schools do not have lands, the communities provided and also with hard labor.

Lassia-Tuolu Senior High School is located in the Upper West Region of Ghana. It was part of the schools that have to close down because there was no food to feed the students. Sorghum was the crop cultivated in this school.

Savelugu Senior High School is located in the Savelugu Municipality of the Northern Region of Ghana. The School operates a Boarding system with a population of about 500 students. The school is one of the affected schools who had to close down because of the delay in the release of feeding grants from government. Maize was the crop cultivated in this school.

Two acres of land were cultivated and these produce would be used to feed the students. 20% of the produce would be sold to an identified market and the money generated will go into an agreeable fund to be used to cultivate the next year. 10% will be used to pay for the schools utility services.

The Project will also partner a local dietician service or local University to provide a food curriculum that helps provide highly nutritious meal with what they grow.

The students involved for minor labor will gain some entrepreneurial or employable skills for life. The project will engage the agricultural curriculum of the schools to help make it a success with all its stakeholders.

Our intervention, Ghana School Farms Project is expected to have impact in these two main areas:

1. The schools we visited were in dept due to the fact that they had to order for food stuffs across regions and neighboring countries. Our intervention is expected to help lessen this burden of cost in supplies.
2. The schools we visited were about to close down due to unavailability of food and the delay in government releasing feeding grant the following academic year. This project is expected to bring some support and relief.

I came face to face with Cape Coast local fishing business during my National Volunteer Day, beach cleanup exercise event organized by Joshua Amponsem and his organization, Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO).

The event came along with a lot of experiences since it involved moving out of our ‘confined’ University of Cape Coast.

I took high interest both in the volunteering activity and also in interacting with the local people of Cape Coast and I find it interesting to share my experience at the Cape Coast shore with you.

Everybody in Ghana or Cape Coast has the right to access the coast (nature’s property). There are fishing regulations in Ghana that help manage the Ghanaian local fisheries.

The main occupation of the people in Cape Coast is fishing. An occupation that helps put food on their table, provides families’ basic needs and also pay the school fees of their children.

The men and women directly involved in this business are the local economic pillars running these communities. Women who come around to also help are pseudolaborers. Most of them are the major investors and the major owners of the business.

Most politicians and academicians or professionals who grew up from Cape Coast had their humble beginning support through this business.

Speaking with some of the women, I was told sometimes go home empty handed when nets get torn with most of the fish escaping.

Their type of fishing can best be described as purse trawling, a non-selective type of fishing. This method helps bring to the shore different types of fishes, for the local market.

There is retail and wholesale services at the shore and you will be lucky getting a lot of fishes at a reduced price.

The business employs old and young men alike with some having their wages paid with some fish.

Anybody from the community that comes around to help is also paid the same “wage”. In this way, resource is distributed “fairly”. Even the unskilled has something to send home with the little help he or she offers.

I was not left out; of course, I went home with my “wage”.

I admire this sector. These people work hard to give the local Ghanaian populace a “balance of protein”.

Fish is Ghana’s most important non-traditional export commodity and the fisheries sub-sector accounts for about 5 percent of the agricultural GDP. Export earnings from fish and fishery products on average account for approximately 60 million US Dollars annually (Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana). This incredible performance or yield informed the creation of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture to help maximize production.

The practices in the local fishing business are a very risky one with so much energy committed into it.

I really don’t know who is reading this post but  believe me, you can join me do something about their conditions of service, reduce the risks associated and build capacity for mechanized and advanced technological methods in local Ghanaian fisheries.

Thanks for reading. God bless you and God bless Africa!