Vegetable farmers to acquire certification
Vegetable growers in Accra, Ashaiman and Tema will soon have to acquire green certificates from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) before they can put their vegetables on the market.
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The labelling process, which is anticipated to be introduced in November this year, will discourage the use of drain water to irrigate vegetable farms in the capital hit by a cholera epidemic.
It will also ensure that vegetables are grown under hygienic conditions and best agricultural practices, as well as help consumers to avoid vegetables that do not have the green label.
Designated enclaves
As part of the initiative, MoFA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), has designated three enclaves for vegetable cultivation at Ashaiman, Weija and Dawhenya.
The two institutions, in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, will ensure that vegetable farmers’ groups get access to irrigated land, technical support, agronomic advice and ready market.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Julius Debrah, and the Minister of MoFA, Mr Fiifi Kwetey, jointly announced the initiative in Accra yesterday.
They had visited a number of vegetable farms at Dzorwulu, Ashaiman, and near the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to keep abreast of how vegetable farmers irrigated their farms and also find out how best those farmers could be assisted to grow vegetables as a viable business venture.
Cholera epidemic
Their visit followed reports to the MLGRD that the cholera outbreak in Accra could be partly blamed on vegetable farmers’ resort to the use of drain water to irrigate their farms.
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Speaking to the media after the tour, Mr Kwetey said most vegetable growers in Accra had been farming on leased lands and they had no access to clean water to irrigate their farms.
He was optimistic that the preparedness of the farmers’ groups to relocate to the designated farm land would help them get access to clean water for irrigation, as well as access to the best farming practices.
Ready market
He gave an assurance that measures would be taken to ensure that the farmers also got access to ready market to enable them to earn decent incomes.
The minister added that his ministry was putting together a strategy to educate consumers on the green certificate initiative.
“By this process, consumers will be able to avoid vegetables that are not produced under hygienic conditions,” he added.
During the visit, it emerged that at Ashaiman, most of the vegetable growers have access to a big dam which they use to irrigate their land.
A new drip irrigation technology, being implemented by the University of Sterling, United States and the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority has been introduced at Ashaiman for the cultivation of onions.