Ghana needs national climate mitigation fund for smallholder farmers – NGO

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Cape Coast-Ghana, Dec. 04, GNA – Ghana must institute a national climate mitigation fund for smallholder farmers to safeguard their livelihoods, Mr David K. Awusi, the Executive Director, Youth Rise International, a youth-led non-partisan NGO, has stated.
Agriculture in Ghana employs 50 per cent of the over 31 million population serving as a major driver of economic growth and development.
However, the livelihoods of these smallholder farmers are mostly threatened by factors such the alarming rate of climate variability and change.
In a statement signed by Mr Awusi and copied to the Ghana News Agency as part of the 38th Farmers Day, he advocated healthy, sustainable and inclusive food systems, which were critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
This year’s celebration was themed: “Accelerating Agriculture Development through Value Addition.”
It was to honour and appreciate farmers and fishers who worked tirelessly to feed the nation and provide the needs of their families.
Mr Awusi called for an emergency sustainable response to roll back the deepening poverty levels and mitigate the impacts of climate on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the country.
Agriculture, he noted, was one powerful tool to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity and feed a projected 9.7 billion people across the world by 2050.
“There is evidence that growth in the agriculture sector is two to four times more effective in raising incomes among the poorest compared to other sectors,” he said.
Mr Awusi called on the Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to prioritise social protection and climate change mitigation to empower the smallholder farmers, who are currently hit the hardest by the effects of climate change.
Agriculture accounts for four per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and in some developing countries it accounts for 25 per cent of GDP according to the World Bank 2021 Report.