The Department of Agriculture (DOA) in the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, held its annual Research Extension farmer Linkage Committee (RELC) session to convey the constraints of farmers for research and solutions via agricultural extension service delivery.
The RELC was established in 1994 by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to outline an approach for identifying problems of farmers and farming activities.
With the session also being used to describe different mechanisms that might be used to solve these problems, the constraints were identified and grouped into extension, policy, and research with issues concerning policy and research being forwarded to the regional and national offices and appropriate research institutions respectively while issues of extension are addressed at the district level.
The event session also highlighted outcomes and success stories from the previous (2021 – 2022) session constraints.
The planning session brought together various stakeholders including researchers, marketers, farmers, food processors, Agriculture Extension Agents, and officials from the Shai Osudoku District Assembly.
Issues of constraints cutting across the areas of markets for crop farmers, chemical usage, setting of standards, cost of production, incentives for small-scale farmers, inputs for rice cultivation, tractors for ploughing, and their high cost, were identified.
Other issues discussed included conflicts between crop and livestock farmers, unavailability of slaughter facilities, inadequate training and research for livestock farmers, unavailability and high cost of feedstuff for pigs and poultry, lack of veterinary drugs, and unavailability of veterinary clinics and resources for veterinary staff.
Processors also complained of the high cost of raw materials for processing, shops reluctant to accept local products, lack of equipment for juice processing, and lack of support from the financial institutions for processors.
Speaking at the RELC session held in Dodowa, Madam Esinam Akosua Bonsu, the Director of the Agriculture Department in Shai Osudoku, said the department would adopt various strategies for addressing the challenges confronting the various players in the agric value chain.
These include linking farmers to the marketing centers, advising producers to look for markets before the beginning of production, formation of FBOs (farmer-based organisations) to acquire inputs in higher quantities to ensure price reduction, and linking farmers to tractor services in and around the district and arrangements with processing machinery companies to supply equipment to farmers on credit basis and the establishment of veterinary clinics in the area.
Similar constraints including late ripening of fruits and poor maize yield were identified last year. To address the problem, the agric director said farmers were introduced to new varieties that are capable of withstanding the climate, and farmers were also encouraged to prune more to ensure the ripening of their fruits.
Dr. Edmond Sottie of the Animal Research Institute of the CSIR and Greater Accra RELC Coordinator who facilitated the event assured the farmers that the constraints raised would be forwarded to the appropriate agencies and institutions for the necessary redress.
He furthered that the take-home message by the various participants was good as they were confident of their respective concerns being addressed through the various solutions professed.
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Participants of the Shai Osudoku RELC session