By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), April 14, GNA – The Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University (DHLTU) has engaged some stakeholders in the agricultural sector and students at the university on its new agroecology project that seeks to transform the agriculture and food systems in West Africa.
It was also aimed to improve the activities of the African partner universities, transforming them into knowledge hubs to transfer competencies and disseminate skills necessary to increase sustainable agriculture.
Dubbed, “AGRoECOlogical FARMing Master programme (AGRECOFARM),” the project is being implemented by a consortium of five West African universities in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, including the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Ghana, funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme.
The project would establish a Master of Science (MSc) programme in agroecology on Precision Agriculture, Organic Crops/Plants Production and Conservation Agriculture (CA) Land Preparation and Planting.
It would also support the establishment of an agroecological laboratory at the DHLTU, equipped with the necessary tools to deliver the MSc programmes and research to help bridge the gap between traditional agricultural knowledge and modern ecological imperatives.
The DHLTU would also sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with selected stakeholders, including the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD), Savannah Agricultural Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-SARI) and the Agricultural Directorate for the AGRECOFARM’s MSc students to do internships with those institutions.
Speaking at the engagement, Professor Hamidatu Darimani, the Project Coordinator at the DHLTU, expressed hope that it would contribute to a more sustainable agricultural sector in Ghana and beyond, amidst the climate change challenges.
“Through this initiative, we aim to equip the next generation of farmers with Vocational and Education Training skills needed to build a resilient and sustainable food system whilst addressing pressing challenges of climate change,” she explained.
She emphasised that the effective participation of stakeholders in the project implementation would ensure it yielded the expected results of shaping the future of agricultural practices in Ghana and across West Africa.
The stakeholders at the engagement expressed commitment to supporting the project execution as agroecology was a prime focus in the food systems transformation to address the global food crisis the world faced.
Mr Daniel Banuoku, the Deputy Director of CIKOD, said the project was timely as it encouraged the involvement of academics and researchers in promoting agroecology practices.
He said farmers had, over the years, practiced agroecology based on abstraction and their lived experiences and stressed the need for research to scale up its practice.
Mr Hudu Abu, the Upper West Regional Director of Agriculture, recommended CA equipment such as a no-till planter to make the agroecology laboratory holistic.
He also emphasised the need for constructive collaboration between the AGRECOFARM project and existing CA projects such as the CA component of the EU-Ghana Agricultural Programme (EU-GAP) in the region.
Some lecturers at the University also recommended the establishment of Bachelor of Science (BSc) programmes under the project for many students to access.
Other participants at the engagement were the Wa Municipal Director of Agriculture and a representative from CSIR-SARI, among others.
GNA
CAE/KOA