WFP BUILDS CAPACITY OF RICE, COWPEA FARMERS (Daily Graphic, Oct 15, 2011, Page 22)

THE World Food Programme (WFP) is building the capacities of rice and cowpea farmers in some parts of the Northern Region to become competitive players in the agricultural value chains.

This forms a core component of the Purchase for Progress (P4P) programme, which the WFP is implementing in 21 countries around the world, with the aim to improve the lives of smallholder low income farmers.

Under the P4P programme, the farmers are supported to produce high quality foodstuffs and to access markets for their produce.

In line with the implementation of this programme, the WFP organised a training programme in Tamale for over 500 rice and cowpea farmers from the Tamale metropolis and Tolon-Kumbungu district.

The farmers, both male and females, received training on how to apply agronomic practices to get good quality yield, how to reduce post harvest losses and how to negotiate for fair prices.

They were also sensitised to the WFP’s traditional local procurement rules and regulations to enable them join the list of local suppliers who provide food for the WFP’s programmes in Ghana.

The WFP is currently undertaking a number of activities which includes assistance to the School Feeding Programme, humanitarian aid support to refugees, a take-home food rations initiative for girls and food for assets and training initiative.

In a statement read on his behalf at the training programme, the WFP Country Director, Mr Ismail Omer noted that in Ghana the P4P programme had been structure to address some of the major constraints facing smallholder farmers.

These setbacks, he mentioned, include low productivity, poor market infrastructure and inadequate market access.

Mr Omer said, this year, a total of 1300 low income farmers selected from a number of farmer-based organisations in the Ejura-Sekyedumasi district in the Ashanti Region and Tamale and Tolon-Kumbungu district in the Northern Region were benefiting from the programme.

“Apart from building their capacity, WFP’s P4P initiative is also working to ensure that smallholder/low-income farmer organisations are provided with simple modern farm implements to help them increase their production,” he stated.

He said the ultimate goal of the P4P programme was to increase the income levels of farmers, improve food security and nutrition and reduce poverty in farming communities.

In an interview, some of the beneficiary farmers identified irregular rains, weeds, lack of fertiliser and difficulties in land preparation as some of the setbacks that bedevilled their farming activities.

“If the WFP can help us to address these challenges, then we are hopeful of increasing production,” Mma Fati, a cowpea farmer, stated.