Stakeholders in the food value chain are calling for the urgent formulation of a national policy aimed at preserving indigenous seeds rather than promoting hybrid varieties and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
They recommend that such a policy should encompass all food crops, including neglected local and indigenous varieties that are better adapted to local conditions and possess high nutritional value.
“This policy will continue to protect and preserve indigenous seeds rather than promote hybrid seeds and other genetically modified organisms and products,” the stakeholders stated in a communiqué issued during an ActionAid Ghana (AAG)-funded seminar.
The seminar, held in Sunyani, was titled “Achieving Food Sovereignty: The Role of Indigenous Seed Development in Ghana.”
Organized by ActionAid Ghana, in collaboration with the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), the seminar brought together smallholder women farmers from the Bono, Ahafo, Bono East, Upper East, Upper West, and Northern regions. Participants included civil society organizations from the Agroecology Movement, researchers from UENR, and representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Other attendees included representatives from the Department of Agriculture, the Forestry Commission, the Bono Regional Coordinating Council, and rights-holder organizations such as Activista and the Young Urban Women Movement.
The seminar aimed to raise public awareness about the importance of indigenous seed development and the value of locally grown seeds in strengthening Ghana’s food system’s resilience to global economic and climate change shocks.
The communiqué urged the Ministry of Agriculture to organize training programs for smallholder farmers, particularly women, to identify, multiply, preserve, and save local seeds and plant varieties at risk of extinction, thereby promoting sustainable agricultural practices and achieving food and seed sovereignty.
The communiqué also emphasized the need for a sustainable agricultural system by enhancing the phase two implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PfFJs II) initiative to incentivize local indigenous seed production through increased investment in agroecology.
It called on civil society organizations and other like-minded groups to intensify advocacy against the 14 GMO products recently approved by the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) and any future approvals to protect indigenous seeds.
The communiqué highlighted the crucial role of smallholder women farmers in maintaining and improving indigenous seeds in Ghana, urging that government policies and programs should focus on providing the necessary technical and financial support to empower them in identifying, protecting, and preserving indigenous seeds.
