THREE MINISTRIES TEAM UP TO EMPOWER FARMERS (THROUGH FSRP)

In a move to arm farmers against the devastating effects of climate change, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has joined forces with the Ministry of Government Communication (MOGC) and the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology & Innovations (MCDTI) to widely disseminate critical timely climate information and agro advisories to farmers and farming communities across the country.

Agro-Meteorological Forecasts & Advisories

This collaborative effort was championed by the Ministry of Food & Agriculture, (under the World Bank funded and ECOWAS-coordinated) West Africa Food System Resilience Project (FSRP) in line with its interventions aimed at providing digital advisory services for food crises prevention and management.

Following two concurrent years of drought and floods respectively, which resulted from unpredictable climatic shifts, MOFA (through FSRP) has procured and installed 20 Automated Weather Stations (AWS) for the Ghana Meteorological Authority (GMet) to augment their capacity to collate accurate location-specific and agric-focused weather data. In addition to rainfall and temperature, data from the AWSs include sunrise, sunset, soil temperature, soil moisture, wind speed/direction and evapotranspiration patterns, among others.

Furthermore, MOFA, through FSRP, has constituted a joint agro-met technical team made up of experts from MOFA, GMet and FSRP to generate location-specific and crop-specific agro-meteorological forecasts and advisories for farmers across the country. The advisories cover: land preparation, fertilizer and pesticide application, planting times, water management, farm management, harvesting, packaging, transportation and storage, etc. This means, going forward, forecasts (especially in farming communities) will not be left at weather alone, but will be accompanied by advisories on climate smart agric practices in all stages of production, particularly for rice, maize, soya, tomatoes and broiler poultry.

Office of the President (Government Communications)

In response to the MOFA-FSRP drive, the Ministry of Govt Communications (MOGC) rallied the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), state media entities and media houses across the country to throw their weight behind the exercise. A letter from the Office of the President signed by the Minister for Govt Communication said “In the light of the erratic rainfall patterns expected this year, it is essential that these advisories reach farmers promptly in local languages as Public Service Announcements (PSA). I count on your national influence to help protect food security, farmers’ livelihoods and the stability of our agriculture sector.

Comms, Digital Technology & Innovations/NCA

The Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology & Innovations (MCDTI) on its part, directed the National Communication Authority (NCA) to facilitate collaborations between MOFA, GMet and Mobile Network Operators “to support the dissemination of this critical

information via bulk sms and voice messages in local languages, as well as through radio and television broadcasts, in line with public service broadcasting and critical public interest messaging protocols”.

About FSRP

FSRP is a World Bank funded program, coordinated by ECOWAS in eight (8) West African countries. In Ghana, FSRP is being implemented through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The regional project is targeted at: (i) strengthening food system risk management, (ii) improving the sustainability of the agricultural productive base and (iii) harmonizing agricultural markets in the West African sub region. Among other interventions, Component 1 of FSRP focuses on the dissemination of agro-climate advisories to farmers to stem the devastating effects of climate variability.