USE ORGANICS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS -DR. CHRISTIAN ANDRES
CSIR-Soil Research Institute (SRI) -Dr. Christian Andres, the Executive Director of Obrobibini Peace Complex, a non governmental organization in Ghana (NGO), has urged stakeholders in the food production system to create more awareness on the planting and usage of organics for sustainable food systems for the environment and future generations.
Dr. Andres made this call when he met with research scientists from both crop and the soil research scientists at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency as well as students from the Kwadaso Agricultural College in Kumasi to promote the use of organic fertilizers in farming on Thursaday,17th June,2021.
“Use organics for sustainable food systems for the benefit of the environment and future generations” he said.
The program was to show the stakeholders the outcome of some of the projects conducted by the NGO which is sponsored by the government of Switzerland, adding that different research works have been conducted in some West African countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ghana and Benin with interesting outcomes and there was therefore the need to transfer the results to the local people.
Dr. Andres noted a video would be shown to other stakeholders in Accra, Kumasi and Bolgatanga where there will be a panel discussion on how the system could be further developed. He stated that the discussion will also focus on the challenges of farmers and the need for policies to guide their activities.
Rev. John Manu, Ashanti Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) on his part, indicated that their presence was to come out with ways to organize farmers in such a way that the environment would not be destroyed. He emphasized on agroecological farming which involves the natural way of farming so that the earth will not be destroyed in order to preserve the soil.
Rev. Manu mentioned that some inputs such as agrochemicals are not being used correctly by farmers which pollutes the environment and causes side effects to their health and as such the programme seeks to address these issues. He added that there are a lot of waste materials in the system which can be converted into organic fertilizer for farmers to use. He also noted that his outfit is ready to collaborate with the NGO to bring out the best in organic fertilizer usage.