Empowering farming communities in Northern Ghana with strategic innovations and productive resources in dryland farming

Project Leader: Dr. Stephen Kwaku Asante, SARI
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Executive Summary

In the predominantly smallholder farming systems of Northern Ghana, livelihoods are directly dependent on harvestable crop yields on seasonal basis. The constraints to sustainable production are the dry spells during the cropping seasons, low fertility of farmlands and farming practices that exacerbate the effects of drought and low soil fertility. The 800-1,000 mm rain per annum is received over a five-month period followed by seven months of dry crop-free periods. The inadequate capacity to harvest rainwater for domestic, crop and livestock needs; little use of inorganic fertilizer and organic residue management; and reliance on crop varieties and cropping systems that do not adequately match water availability lead to reduced harvestable crop yields and reduced productivity of water. Coupled with a land tenure system in which only male family heads own land and livestock, women are worse affected by the declining yields. The necessity for women to obtain water for domestic chores reduces time available for income generation. Interventions by a systems approach that is gender sensitive and pro-poor are needed to ensure sustained livelihood of the farming communities. To achieve this will require domestic, community-based and on-farm water harvesting, informed policy discussions that encourage communities to institute community water governance mechanisms, developing and adopting varieties that enhance seasonal water productivity, crop residue management and soil conservation practices that are congruent with the fragility of the soils of Northern Ghana. Within the CPWF, the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute, the only institution with the mandate for cropping systems research in Northern Ghana, will achieve this by drawing on the expertise of two CG centers and two local NARES, whiles building on the existing links with NGOs, farmer groups and the extension services. The project will adopt participatory problem diagnoses approach, and extension of innovations specific to needs of the farming systems in selected communities in 10 districts in Northern Ghana. The project places emphasis on increasing harvestable crop yield per drop of rainfall by intensifying crop production using varieties with enhanced water-use efficiency, compost manufacture using locally available crop residues, and technologies that convert erosion causing run-off into plant available soil water, and bare soil surface evaporation into effective crop transpiration. Long-term climatic data from the Sudan and Guinea savannah zones of the Volta Basin would be analyzed to refine drought prediction and detection models for selected communities. Participatory technology development will ensure that the innovations are sustainable and are well tuned to local needs. Adoption and impact studies and active dissemination of results through stakeholder workshops, mass and print media publications, and interactions with local policy makers will provide the platform for outscaling the interventions to other areas not covered during project execution. Improved household food availability, and creating opportunity for women in rural farming communities to engage in off-farm income generating activities are crucial for wealth creation and sustaining the livelihoods of farming communities.

Participating Institutions

Theme and Basin Coverages