University organises ‘Climate-Smart Innovation’ platform for Agricultural stakeholders

Sunyani, Jan. 31, GNA - The Centre for Climate Change and Gender Studies (3CGS) of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) has organised a Climate-Smart Innovations Learning Platform for stakeholders in Agriculture in the Sunyani Municipality.

The platform, which involves an organised group of agricultural stakeholders-farmers, non-governmental organisations in agriculture, weather experts and Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) officials under the auspices of the 3CGS and the maiden platform section was held in 2017.

The event was funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom under the Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) Uptake 4 project.

That project, is designed to Strengthen Stakeholder Capacity to Manage Forest-Agriculture Landscape through LPs towards enhanced climate-resilient, food security and partnership.

More than 40 participants from the project implemented areas, which included; farmers, staff of the MoFA and the Ghana Meteorological Agency attended.

Others were; representatives of the Environment and Agriculture Women Association of Ghana (EAWAG), an organic farming advocacy group and other non-governmental organisations and staff of the 3CGS.

Addressing the participants, Dr. Mrs. Mercy Afua Adutwumwaa Derkyi, leader of the Uptake Project said the platform would broaden the knowledge of farmers and other relevant stakeholders in forestry and agriculture sectors for enhanced climate-resilient, food security and partnership to improve agriculture development in Africa, particularly Ghana.

She reiterated that Uptake 4 also sought to know farmers’ climate-smart innovations and build their capacities through LPs, so that they could manage their forest-agriculture landscape in this era of climate change.

Dr. Mrs. Derkyi explained broadly “the CIRCLE uptake projects build on CIRCLE fellowship research which centred on climate change and gender in the transitional zone of Ghana”, citing that the Uptake 1 project focused on knowledge co-creation and sharing on climate change adaptation strategies.

She added the Uptake 3 used the LP concept for engaging farmers and other stakeholders for exchange and co-creation of knowledge that strengthened agriculture and natural resources management in Ghana. 

Mr Ofosu Denkyira, the Sunyani Municipal Director of Agriculture entreated farmers to seek advice from the Agricultural Extension Agents for the purchase and application of agro-chemicals in their farms.

According to him, some of the agro-chemicals were fake products and therefore harmful to the crops and the environment, saying such chemicals contributed to the worsening situation of climate change.

A nine-member executive committee was inaugurated to steer the affairs of the 2020 Platform.

GNA