Accra: The World Bank’s extensive analysis on the impact of climate change on Ghana’s agricultural sector shows that climate shocks are projected to push at least one million additional Ghanaians into poverty by 2050, with poor households likely to experience income reductions of up to 40 percent. The analysis indicates that the agricultural sector, which currently employs a significant portion of the population, is particularly vulnerable due to its over-reliance on rain-fed farming. To reverse the trend, the country’s scientists through science and research would have to play critical roles in ensuring an effective and sustainable reverse.
According to Ghana News Agency, CSIR-SARI Technology Park, located at Nyankpala in the Tolon District of the Northern Region, is a pioneering initiative focused on advancing sustainable agriculture through science, technology, and innovation. Established in 2024 in collaboration with the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), the Innovation Research Extension and Advisory Coordination Hub Consortium, under the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme, the Technology Park serves as a demonstration hub and a training centre. It showcases advanced farming solutions including genetic agronomic innovations developed by CSIR-SARI to boost agricultural production in Ghana.
During the 2024 growing season, the park initiated a total of 74 climate-smart, gender, and nutrition-sensitive technologies covering 10 different crops, availed to stakeholders and actors in the agricultural value chain. Some of the improved crop varieties showcased included drought-tolerant and high-oleic groundnut varieties such as SARINUT 7 and 8, Fall armyworm tolerant maize hybrids (CSIR-SARIMAZ 4 and 5 and CSIR-Wobil Moya), Provitamin A enriched maize hybrids (CSIR-Abebe), and Songotra-T, a pod borer resistant cowpea variety developed through modern biotechnology, among others.
Other technologies include mechanized planters and harvesters, seed multiplication and early-generation seed technology, striga control technologies, post-harvest technologies, drip irrigation systems, integrated soil fertility management strategies, and the conservation agriculture system of rice intensification. The CSIR-SARI SRI technology operates on four key principles: applying compost to enrich the soil, transplanting young seedlings as early as 14-15 days, planting in lines to facilitate the use of mechanical weeders, and alternating wetting and drying to conserve water and control usage.
Dr. Charles Nelimor, Manager of the CSIR-SARI Technology Park, told GNA that the primary objective of the initiative is to demonstrate improved crop varieties and sustainable farming practices, and to bridge the gap between research and practical application in agriculture. He said the park also seeks to promote the adoption of biotechnology to improve food security and resilience while creating a more productive agricultural ecosystem that could serve as a model for other regions. Dr. Nelimor spoke about the park’s impact, stating that it has significantly influenced Ghana’s seed value chain by increasing demand for early-generation seeds through practical demonstrations. He said it has encouraged farmers to adopt improved seed varieties with higher yields and pest resistance while fostering collaborations with seed producers and agribusinesses to strengthen the agricultural sector.
Despite its significant contributions, Dr. Nelimor acknowledged that the park faces challenges, particularly the need for sustainable funding to support the scaling up of agricultural innovations.
Dr. Francis Kusi, Director of CSIR-SARI, said the park aims to expand partnerships, scale up successful technologies, and continue serving as a catalyst for agricultural transformation in Ghana and across West Africa. He added that the park stands as a testament to the power of integrating biotechnology and sustainable practices to revolutionize agriculture and improve livelihoods in the region. Dr. Kusi appealed to farmers, seed producers, and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to take advantage of the initiative to advance Ghana’s commitment to sustainable farming practices and food security.
It is proposed that the government makes available resources in the form of funding and training more research scientists to scale up research and technology in the agriculture sector. For example, all the improved variety of seeds developed by the SARI PARK should be mass-produced and made available and affordable to farmers throughout the country to enable them to venture into farming such high-yielding crops to back up food security in an entrenching global phenomenon of climate change. Government is advised to legislate collaboration with sister West African countries to set up big research, technology, and agriculture-biased laboratories to give total attention to modern and safe production of food crops, medicinal crops, and other advanced agribased technologies in the country.