Ms Sherry Ayitey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), has charged member countries of the Global Research Alliance (GRA) to adopt a coordinated approach and pool resources to augment activities and programmes of the organisation.
She said it was about time the GRA moved quickly from policy to action and practices which people could easily benefit from in their local communities.
Ms Ayitey, whose speech was read by Dr Nicholas Iddi, National Project Coordinator, MEST, was speaking at a workshop in Accra on: "Building Capability in Measurement, Inventory and Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases for African Farming Systems."
The workshop, organised by the GRA with support from the French Government, is aimed at creating the platform for scientists, researchers and policy makers to deliberate on methods and mechanisms of controlling emission of green house gases associated with agricultural production.
The three-day workshop is being attended by participants from the United States, Netherlands, France, Peru, Burundi, New Zealand, Togo and Zambia.
The rest are South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Kenya and Ghana.
Ms Ayitey also appealed to research scientists to incorporate existing land and water management practices in their findings to address the growing greenhouse gas emission in the farming system.
She charged them to put in place technologies that would ensure that climate friendly agricultural practices could be brought to the door-steps of farmers for accelerated adoption.
She said discussions at the workshop could also be dovetailed into existing policy framework on strategies and plans for reducing green house gases from the agriculture sector.
Ms Ayitey said although Africa contributed only a limited amount of the global house gases, the impact of climate change were projected to be severe in Africa than any other region.
She said Africa, therefore, had to develop the capacity and capability of making agriculture more climate resilient than any other region in the world.
Dr Deborah Knox, a worker at the Ministry of Primary Industries, New Zealand, said the GRA was focused on research, development and extension of technologies and practices that would help provide ways to grow more food without growing greenhouse gas emissions.
She said the GRA brought countries, organisations and individuals together in a bottom-up, voluntary network to increase international cooperation and investment in agricultural greenhouse gas research.
She said the Alliance would share research results, technologies and best practices and deliver them as practical solutions to farmers.