Food Sovereignty and combating poverty and hunger in Ghana

The incidence of hunger and malnutrition has continued to challenge African policy makers, researchers and development practitioners, as it is reported that majority of the 842 million chronically undernourished in the world live in Africa. Coupled with the food crisis of 2007-2008, this has brought African policy makers to a grim realization that the current global food system, built on the free and liberalized food trade, cannot be relied upon to ensure sustainable food security for the African continent. Current thinking among stakeholders in African agriculture is that reducing hunger and malnutrition in a sustainable manner would require significant increases in the level and quality of public and private investments in agriculture and food systems. According to the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), to enhance food security and nutrition, reduce poverty and inequalities, promote sustainable agricultural and food systems and contribute to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security, investments in agriculture need to be “responsible”. Since the scale and quality of agricultural investments undertaken by African countries will depend largely on the path through which countries choose to achieve food security and nutrition, achieving consensus on issues bordering on food security and food sovereignty is of vital importance to African policy makers. Food Security, being an evolving concept in terms of its definition and dimension, encompasses physical availability of food, economic and physical access to food, food utilization and stability of the other three dimensions over time. More importantly, the FAO’s concept of food security places squarely the responsibility of food security at the national level. In other words, a food security strategy must be aligned with and commensurate to every country’s capability. In addition to being a precondition to genuine food security, food sovereignty is the right of each nation to maintain and develop its own capacity to produce its basic foods respecting cultural and productive diversity. The food sovereignty movement pits itself against, and considers itself an alternative to the ‘neo-liberal agricultural policies imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In comparative terms, food sovereignty appears to be deeper than food security in that it seeks not only to guarantee access to food, but proposes that people and, corporate monopolies, make the food-related decisions. In fact, the origin of food sovereignty movement lies partially in dissatisfaction with the term ‘food security’ and its attendant assumptions. Based on this backgroundpreceding, and in spite of its failed agricultural sector, African countries have embarked on a number of programmes in order to become more food self-sufficient. Some of the regional programmes initiated to revive Africa’s agricultural economy include the Lagos Plan of Action, ‘the Accelerated Development in SSA: An Agenda for Action’ (Berg Plan); the United Nations Plan: Priority Plan for the Economic Recovery of Africa (PPERA); and the AUC-NPCA Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). CAADP’s overall goal is to improve livelihoods, food security, and environmental resilience in Africa. Its specific objective is to support country-driven agricultural development programmes that contribute to the attainment of an average annual growth rate of 6% in agriculture, while allocating 10% of its annual budget to agriculture. CAADP translates this NPCA vision into an operational framework that guides agriculture-led transformation through four interrelated but mutually reinforcing ‘pillars’, namely, extending the area under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems (Pillar I); Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for improved market access (Pillar II); Increasing food supply and reducing hunger (Pillar III); and Agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption (Pillar IV), which lies within the mandate of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). ’s mandate. It is rife that the year 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the CAADP, as well as the implementation of Sustaining the CAADP Momentum Strategic Framework, 2014 – 2023. Africa does not seem to subscribe to the notion of food security in its entirety. In other words, it may be necessary for Africa to incorporate food security yard sticks in the all regional food security programmes. Further, though some of the goals articulated in CAADP Pillars express food sovereignty intentions, African leaders have not taken full cognizance of the principles of food sovereignty in the development of their agricultural programmes. It is crucial that food sovereignty ensures the right of the Africans to define their own agriculture and food policies to protect and regulate domestic agricultural production and trade in order to achieve sustainable development objectives. Further, while placing greater emphasis on smallholder famers’ interests, food security and food sovereignty issues should be well understood and strategically aligned with Africa’s 2063 Agricultural Transformation Agenda.

Frontiers in Agronomy

The recent discourse on food sovereignty places much emphasis on democracy in determining localized food systems, and whether the food is culturally appropriate while leaning heavily on sustainable agricultural practices such as organic agriculture, ecological intensification, agroecology, nature-based solutions, and regenerative agriculture. Sustainable agricultural practices are intended to ensure that the land is managed without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, while going further by focusing on improvements on soil and land health. However, what are the practicalities of food activism and relying entirely on nature while yields are still very low in much of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)? We attempt to answer this question in four main sections: (a) we start by defining the concept of food sovereignty and the associated practices, (b) we highlight some of the main socio-ecological conditions that are common in SSA, and (c) we present evidence of some of the limitations...

Canadian Journal of Globalization, 2011

The pursuit of poverty reduction strategies and agricultural policies to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, and meet goal one of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has been a clarion call by the international community. This paper compares the prospects of trade liberalization and food aid in Ghana to address these issues with the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) and agricultural policies. It argues that food aid and the current policy of import subsidization do not address long-term food security, defined as an abundance of locally accepted food used to feed a population. It also argues that neoliberal trade policies have adversely affected agricultural policy and food security in the country and as a result there is a need for the state to disengage from agricultural trade liberalization. An interventionist policy in which the state is actively engaged in the diversification of the agricultural base, including irrigation, marketing, storage and preservation, distribution, and production, is needed. The GPRS may currently be the best possible policy solution to help Ghana reach its development objectives, but it must be redesigned to address the contextual specifics of poverty and include a strong implementation plan with measurable targets.

Global Journal of Applied, Management and Social Sciences (GOJAMSS), 2019

Global Hunger Index of 2014 indicates hunger has remarkably improved globally, falling by 39 percent since 1990. Yet, the status of hunger in Africa is 'extremely alarming' as 30 percent of the population is still undernourished. Hunger is intimately tied to vulnerability to stress which is equally linked to food availability and accessibility. Intersecting challenges of Africa's erratic weather patterns, conflict, weak governance and rising population make daunting the task of food security. Coupled with this the vexing problem of finding the ultimate food paradigm to navigate the unequal exchange in food distribution within the continent. Though two concepts compete for attention as the ultimate paradigm for endogenous food production: food security and food sovereignty. Even so, food security is the dominant approach with immense benefits for the different countries are experimenting with these concepts with startling lack of clarity for a food secure future. This prompts us to ask: can Africa confront this paradigm shift from agricultural trenches of food insularity or build new bridges in food rights for the smallholder farmer? The productive tension underlying this food policy complex could prove to be a 'boon' or 'doom' crisis for agricultural productivity. Food security is a case of ideological subsumption aimed at material consumption. Therefore, is creating virtuous cycles wherein smallholder farmers are pushed to either debt or out of business. Food sovereignty builds resilience, and stability to spur inclusive growth through holistic integration of smallholder farmers leading to eco-efficient allocation of resources. To build resilience of the poor, there must be safety nets geared towards preempting shocks rather than being mere reactionary measure. A food secured future will require integration of social safety nets into development policy to reduce lag time in meeting challenges when confronted with climate shocks.

2017

For decades, the global food security strategy has operated on the assumption that poverty and hunger result from a state of underdevelopment, which can be alleviated through the distribution of technology to increase farm-level productivity. In more recent years, transnational corporate involvement within food security has led to a global imposition of intellectual property rights over seed and agriculture science, thus catalyzing a process of accumulation by dispossession. Those who have been dispossessed of their seed, knowledge, food cultures, and social relations of production, however, have not stood idly by. NGO, peasant and human rights organizations have galvanized around food sovereignty, a radical-rights based alternative to the business as usual approach of food security. Broadly defined, food sovereignty is the peoples’ right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It has also been described as ‘repossessing the commons’, or taking back those aspects of life, ...

Agriculture and Human Values, 2012

The emerging concept of food sovereignty refers to the right of communities, peoples, and states to independently determine their own food and agricultural policies. It raises the question of which type of food production, agriculture and rural development should be pursued to guarantee food security for the world population. Social movements and non-governmental organizations have readily integrated the concept into their terminology. The concept is also beginning to find its way into the debates and policies of UN organizations and national governments in both developing and industrialized countries. Beyond its relation to civil society movements little academic attention has been paid to the concept of food sovereignty and its appropriateness for international development policies aimed at reducing hunger and poverty, especially in comparison to the human right to adequate food (RtAF). We analyze, on the basis of an extensive literature review, the concept of food sovereignty with regard to its ability to contribute to hunger and poverty reduction worldwide as well as the challenges attached to this concept. Then, we compare the concept of food sovereignty with the RtAF and discuss the appropriateness of both concepts for national public sector policy makers and international development policies. We conclude that the impact on global food security is likely to be much greater if the RtAF approach predominated public policies. While the concept of food sovereignty may be appropriate for civil society movements, we recommend that the RtAF should obtain highest priority in national and international agricultural, trade and development policies.

2013

The new paradigm of food sovereignty offers a series of alternatives to the neoliberal development mode. It also offers some answers to the emerging food question by proposing solutions to reduce dependency on purchased food or aid, focusing on territory, community, autonomy, sustainability, ecology and nutrition. The food crisis, which is widely connected to both the ecological and energy crises and exposes the contradictions of the corporate food regime, was manifested in both the deficiency of supply and exponential increase of prices of staple food. Global food crises bring to the fore a number of responses offering inter-linkages between questions of access to food, poverty and power, as well as issues of productivity and the contested debate around technological solutions. The food question in Uganda has been merely interpreted via the modernization paradigm in purely quantitative terms and codified through the notion of food security: the idea that the issue is just one of securing certain availability of food at national and international level through internal production or external aid. The aim of the paper is to debunk the debate from this productivist paradigm, which in Uganda agricultural policies coincides with an emphasis on increasing commercialization of peasant food production. The notion of food sovereignty however cannot be simply read in epiphenomenal terms or merely the lens of contemporary social movements. Indeed it has profound historical, ecological and political articulations with the long-term strategies of peasant households to maintain their relative autonomy, expand their resource base and ensure social reproduction. The paper explores these dynamics through the case of northern Ugandan peasants and their struggles to maintain access to land and food production as crucial instruments to their internal social organization, political authority and economic reproduction. These social struggles are also to maintain their relative autonomy vis a vis states (pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial) and national and international markets. These dynamics acquire particular relevance in the light of the increasingly unjust, unequal and politically repressive character of the nation state. They are also important because of the overtly central political and economic role played by food in geo-political interstate relations and relations between classes (farmers, peasants and workers) evidenced by amongst other things the current wave of large-scale land acquisitions, which is altering the patterns of food production at global level.

The article analyzes the evolution of food security in West Africa during the last 25 years. The Millennium Development Goal One aims at halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. Although Sub-Saharan Africa remains far from reaching the hunger target, West Africa presents a better situation, with eight countries that will meet the target. The article focuses on international food trade, analyzing the recent growth of food imports in West Africa and the impact of this growth on food security. The last part of the article is focused on the case of Benin: the country achieved an important reduction of undernourishment since 1990. The analysis aims to highlight the role of short food supply chains in rural development and therefore in food security strategies. The department of Atacora, in Northern Benin, is used as a case study to show the recent evolution of local food networks in a region traditionally characterized by an export-oriented agriculture. In conclusion the article highlights the link between food security, international trade and local food networks, showing the potential of the " food sovereignty " paradigm in understanding the geographies of food in West Africa.

KNAC Policy and Research Instituter

The agricultural sector remains the highest employer of Ghana’s labour, providing livelihood and employment to about fifty percent (50%) of the Ghanaian labour and also accounts for ninety percent (90) employment in rural Ghana. Notwithstanding the fall in agricultural contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent years, the sector remains the highest foreign exchange earner. Thus, in order to reduce poverty and raise average incomes of Ghanaians, significant improvement in agricultural productivity is urgently required. Despite its overall importance to economic growth and ensuring food security, the sector is bedeviled with some challenges. The objective of this paper is to assess agricultural production, food consumption, as well as vulnerability and food security. In addition, the prospects and challenges facing Ghana’s agriculture and the way forward in achieving food self-sufficiency will be discussed.