Professor Eric Danquah, Founding Director, West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, has advocated increased local seed production in Ghana, as part of efforts to ensure food security.
This, he said would also go a long way to reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported seeds.
Prof Danquah made the appeal in his remarks at the opening of a high-level consultative meeting in Accra to develop a compelling case for investments in the value chains of rice, maize, soybean, cowpea, cassava and tomato for the development of agribusinesses for food security and socio-economic development in Ghana.
The three-day programme aims to enhance agribusinesses to ensure Ghana’s food security and socio-economic development.
Prof Danquah reiterated that the billions of dollars spent on importation of seeds, feed, food and raw materials were wasteful and could be used in other important areas of the economy for sustainable development.
He said current developments globally were warning signals that no nation should continue to rely on food imports.
He noted that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years had taught the world the need for nations to become self-reliant in seed production, saying that with the COVID-19 lockdowns, importation of fertilizers and seeds was delayed, thereby affecting agriculture production in some countries.
He urged the Government to prioritise investment in scientific research to help produce improved seeds for farmers to facilitate Ghana’s food security and socio-economic development.
Prof Danquah said WACCI, a World Bank Centre of Excellence was playing a critical role in the production of seeds and the training of plant breeders in the West Africa subregion and across Africa.
He said if 40% of maize farmers were to access WACCI’s maize variety, Ghana would be self-sufficient in maize.
