@FAOGhana/David Youngs

The Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers GhaFFaP has called on the Government of Ghana and other national and global development partners to put in place a special COVID-19 stimulus package to boost smallholder forest and farm producers resilience and recovery.

The call was made at GhaFFaP’s Second National Dialogue which serves as the platform to give a collective voice to over 12 forest and farm producer organizations from different ecological zones in Ghana on issues around engagement in policy, access to finance and access to markets, and building climate resilient communities.  The National Dialogue Series forms part of the GhaFFaP Agenda 2030 Strategy- a 10-year roadmap launched at the Second National Dialogue- which aims to support smallholder forest and farm producers to become key agents of change for climate resilient landscapes and improved livelihoods.

The Ghaffap Agenda 2030 responds to some of the sustainable natural resource management issues in the country as highlighted by Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, in a keynote address delivered on his behalf  “Perhaps, deforestation and forest degradation, is the greatest threat to sustainable natural resource management today and this has dire consequences on agriculture productivity, food security, poverty alleviation, protection of water bodies, rainfall patterns and droughts and severe impacts of climate change on the environment”, he said.

GhaFFaP Survey indicates high cost of food prices linked to Impacts of COVID -19 and 2020 Floods

At the National Dialogue, Charles K. Nyaaba, Head of Programmes and Advocacy at the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, a member of GhaFFaP, noted that a study conducted  on the impact of COVID-19 and climate change on the livelihoods of GhaFFaP members indicated that these two events had considerable damaging impacts on food production in 2020. “The high cost of food prices and the shortage of legumes and cereals in 2021 is partly due to the impact of COVID-19 and partly due to flooding in 2020,” he said.

The study adopted a qualitative method to collect feedback from over 650 forest and farm producers in eighteen communities across the different ecological zones where GhaFFaP members operate to understand the socio-economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 floods on its  members.  For example, the study revealed that about 75% of respondents were unable to access farm inputs during the planting season due to market disruption caused by restrictions on movement as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak; this subsequently led to the reduction in acreages cultivated by the respondents.

The study also revealed that the spillage of water from the Bagre Dam, causing the 2020 flooding in the Northern part of the country, led to significant loss of livestock, drinking water sources, destruction of farms and roads connecting towns, disruption in trade and in movements among GhaFFaP members.

Mr Nyaaba suggested that to stimulate food production in 2021, the Government should provide more input subsidy to farmers to cushion them against the impact of COVID-19, adding that a recommendation from the study is for the government of Ghana to urgently consider a special stimulus package for smallholder forest and farm producers recovery from the pandemic.

GhaFFaP launches its Agenda 2030 Strategy

At the National Dialogue, GhaFFaP launched a 10-year roadmap, the GhaFFaP Agenda 2030 Strategy which aims to position smallholder forest and farm producers as key agents for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and contributing to a ‘green recovery’ from the COVID-19 Pandemic and its ripple effects.

In a statement delivered on her behalf, Jocelyn Brown Hall, FAO Deputy Regional Representative and FAO Representative to Ghana, said ‘It is refreshing to witness the emergence of a strong Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers as an appropriate vehicle through which smallholder forest and farm producers can be supported to engage in policy processes, improve livelihoods and build climate resilient landscapes across the ecological zones.’

The GhaFFaP Agenda 2030 represents a unique roadmap that provides a wholistic approach to addressing key concerns of smallholder forest and farm producers through four (4) strategic initiatives. This includes (1) the GhaFFaP National Dialogue Series – which serves as a platforming for advocating for inclusive and equitable forest and farm policies and laws in Ghana and engages smallholders in discussing solutions towards strong, sustainable and climate resilient forest and farm businesses; (2) The GhaFFaP Green Market Strategy which prioritises ‘green production’ and climate -resilient forest and farm value chains ;(3) the GhaFFaP Sustainable Financial Transformation which  seeks among other things to promote financial inclusion and literacy among Forest and Farm Producer Organisations  (4) GhaFFaP Green Ghana – highlighting the role of smallholder forest and farm producers as key agents for achieving forest landscape restoration.

Delivering a statement on behalf of the Embassy of the kingdom of the Netherlands, Abdul Rahaman Abdulai, Agribusiness Policy Officer underscored the important role that organisations of smallholder forest and farm producers such as GhaFFaP can play in economic development anchored on forest and farm value chains. He noted ‘I am particularly delighted to know that GhaFFaP members have started transitioning Village Savings and Loans Schemes into Cooperative Credit Unions as cooperative development is one of the key areas of focus of the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana working through intermediaries such as AgriTerra and Solidaridad ‘’

GhaFFaP is a national federation of Forest and Farm Producer Organisations (FFPOs) with a membership of 1,042.880 smallholders drawn from the forest, transition, and savanna ecological zones of Ghana. The current membership of GhaFFaP is made up of 478,623 women (46%) and 564,157 men (54%) of which 208,291 (20%) are youth.