In their efforts to reduce the impact of climate change on food security in Ghana, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) has provided hundreds of farmers in three districts of the Upper East Region with some climate resilient crop varieties.
The new crop varieties on tomato, okra, and amaranth come with some nutritional value for consumers, as they have the potential to tackle health implications of the individual.
Speaking at the campaign of the varieties at Tono in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region on Monday, a Principal Research Scientist with the CSIR-CRI, Dr Michael Kwabena Osei, said the food nutritional campaign of the three crop varieties in the municipality formed part of the implementation of a project, dubbed: The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) II programme.
The programme, launched by the African Development Bank in 2018, he indicated, aimed to catalyse agricultural growth, improve food security, and promote inclusive growth across Africa.
The TAAT II project, which promotes nutrition and productivity in the vegetable sector of the economy, sought to improve livelihoods of farmers by promoting the adoption of improved vegetable varieties enhancing productivity, and strengthening the vegetable value chain.
The project is being implemented at Tono in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, Vea in the Bongo District, and Pwalugu in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region. It has the World Vegetable Centre as its partner, with funding support from the African Development Bank.
Addressing farmers drawn from the three communities at the durbar to highlight the significance of consuming foods prepared from tomato, okra and amaranth, Dr Osei said, “We have given some of the seeds of the vegetables to the farmers to try them. We came here last year (2024) and did some demonstration to the farmers. We are back again to distribute the seeds to them, and as you can see, they are rushing for the seeds.”
He attributed the growing clamour for the seeds by farmers to the “sensory test” that had been conducted to evaluate the acceptability or otherwise of dishes prepared from the crops.
“These varieties are unique in terms of their yielding to maturity, and are climate resilient. It can give 20 tons per hectare, as against 10 tons or less of the traditional varieties,” he said.
Dr Osei, who doubles as the Project Coordinator, believes that the country would reduce the heavy importation of tomatoes from neighbouring Burkina Faso, hence fostering economic sufficiency for Ghana.
A nutritionist at the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, Kingsley Kwonona Kanwi, noted that the growing of vegetables like tomatoes would help address the issue of anaemia amongst pregnant women and lactating mothers in the municipality.
Jessica Kukua Baidoo, a Research Associate with the World Vegetable Centre, pledged that the organisation would continue to work hand-in-hand with the CSIR-CRI to ensure a successful implementation of the project.
Meanwhile, Heads of Departments (HODs) for the Department of Agriculture in the Talensi District and Kassena-Nankana Municipality said farmers spoke highly of the varieties, promising they would adapt them to increase productivity.
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