By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, July 14, GNA – A study on Youth in Just Food Systems Transitions has recommended the adoption of a bipartisan, long-term food systems policy that is insulated from changes in political administrations to ensure continuity and sustainable development.
The study also recommended the promotion of agroecological and climate-resilient farming practices, expansion of decent work opportunities and social protection for workers in the informal food sector, and the strengthening of youth entrepreneurship at the district level.
The recommendations were presented at a dissemination forum organised in Tamale by Urbanet, a non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform.
Participants included representatives of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, civil society organisations, farmer groups, development partners, academia, youth organisations and the private sector.
The study, commissioned in 2024 under INCLUDE Knowledge Platform’s multi-country programme, examined how Ghana’s food system could become more just, inclusive and sustainable for young people, especially women, amid food system transitions and climate change. Fieldwork and data collection were conducted in 2025 in the Kumbungu and Savelugu Assemblies in the Northern Region.
Mr Joscha Betke, a Member of the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform, said the Ghana study formed part of a broader research programme undertaken in Ghana, Rwanda, Benin, South Africa, Somalia and Guinea to generate evidence on the impact of food systems transformation on young women and men across Africa.
He said the study assessed food systems using four justice dimensions—procedural, distributive, recognition and restorative justice—to determine whether ongoing transitions were inclusive, equitable and environmentally sustainable.
Presenting the findings, Mr Prince Asafu-Adjaye, Economist, Labour Researcher and Research Team Member, said about 40 per cent of Ghana’s youth were engaged across the food system value chain, while approximately 86 per cent of rural youth in northern Ghana were involved in crop farming.
He said young people working within the food system earned about 40 per cent less than the national average income and faced significant gender wage disparities.
According to him, political interference in agricultural programmes, delays in the distribution of farm inputs, limited youth participation in programme design, inadequate storage facilities, poor market infrastructure, post-harvest losses and climate-related shocks continued to constrain youth participation in agriculture.
He added that although internet penetration had increased, only a few farmers used digital platforms to access markets, while women continued to encounter significant barriers in accessing land, finance and government interventions.
The study engaged 25 key informants from MoFA, district assemblies, NGOs, donor agencies, private-sector institutions and farmer organisations. It also held focus group discussions involving 61 participants, including 35 women, while 14 young people participated in a validation workshop to review the findings.
The research analysed public agricultural initiatives such as Planting for Food and Jobs, the Feed Ghana Programme and Youth in Agriculture, alongside the private-sector model of the Tamanaa Rice Processing Factory.
Presenting the recommendations, Miss Clara Osei-Boateng, Lead Researcher, said frequent replacement or rebranding of agricultural programmes by successive governments often disrupted implementation and affected farmers’ access to support services.
She noted that some farmers interviewed indicated they had registered under the Feed Ghana Programme following the change of government in 2025 but were yet to receive farm inputs although the planting season was nearing its end.
Other recommendations included investment in climate-resilient storage, processing and market infrastructure, promotion of private-sector investment in low-carbon technologies, and support for research, innovation and South-South knowledge exchange.
Mr Alidu Zakaria, Institutional Development Lead at Urbanet, said young people remained central to agricultural transformation but continued to face challenges, including limited access to productive land, finance, markets and decision-making processes.
Mr Peter Claver Anyeembey, Head of the Department of Agriculture at the West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly, commended the researchers and stressed that continuity in agricultural policies was crucial to improving productivity and supporting farmers.
GNA
Edited by Eric K Amoh/Lydia Kukua Asamoah
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