Madam Lilian Afre Sika, the Acting Executive Director of Dawadawa Initiative, has stated that, statistics has shown that, Food insecurity in Ghana affects about 50% of the total population.
According to her, the World Food Programme has attributed it to inefficient food systems in the rural areas which are mostly dominated into the agricultural sector in the country.
This may leave one wondering, which food systems are currently operational and how they can resolve the issue of food insecurity in the country.
Dawadawa impact initiative (DII),is owned and led by smallholder farmers which was established to promote regenerative farming ,reverse climate crisis and fight post harvest losses.
He disclosed that, the organisation has provided all agribusiness solutions under one roof.
According to her, Farmers are now able to access affordable farming products and services and maintain the quality of their produce, without affecting their profits, which he observed that, it has ensured that more than 55,000 smallholder farmers from Ghana and other West African countries are experiencing lowering crop production costs by 30%.
She noted that other benefits include a yield increase from 1.5 tons to 3 tons per hectare ,which has lead to increased incomes in households from living $2 a day to $5.
The Executive Director stated that, These agricultural technologies bring profit and efficiency to farmers while being environmental friendly.
She said Food waste is a top three contributor of greenhouse gas emissions globally, whether scrapes from our plates after a meal, or the 40-60% of the inedible waste from animals raised for human consumption.
She revealed that, Eno Kobi Organic fertilizer, an innovative of Dawadawa, is a pest repellent natural fertilizer that seeks to improve the soil, which is planet friendly as it utilizes food waste and therefore reduces ozone depleting methane sent to the environment.
She indicated that, the process of compost is key nutrients like phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium which are recovered and reused to enrich soil, improve quantity in yield, improve food production by 60% helping solve hunger and poverty in communities.
This he said can also be attributed to the 50 professional and nonprofessional employment opportunity created. He reiterated that, Dawadawa impact initiative has several post harvest services that have enabled farmers to increase production, diversify their produce, reduce losses, improve quality and increase their incomes.
The services he said includes demonstrations, trainings and services on harvesting, grading, packaging, cool storage and cool transportation, small scale processing, quality measurement, food safety and marketing of horticultural crops.
She stated that, they have a retail shop where farmers can access affordable farming products and services to reduce losses and improve quality, while enabling farmers access to premium markets both locally and globally.
Eco Solar Power cooling service room is a cold storage for smallholder farmers to extend the shelf life of their produce by reducing losses by up to 90%, and sell them over an extended period of time to maximize on profits at optimum prices, which has led to increasing household incomes by an average of 200%.
She disclosed that, in the rainy season, farmers may experience problems like increased risk of a flat toxins and mould build up. DII has a solar power drying service that enables farmers to dry their grain to an acceptable moisture level for long term storage.
He said Farmers are empowered to continue producing grains and therefore ensuring food security without experiencing losses, because most farmers are forced to sell their produce soon after harvest due to lack of storage space, and for that matter miss out on extra income as commodity prices go up with time.
Sustainable warehousing services ensure farmers can keep their produce safe until they are ready to sell increasing their income and profits in the process.This includes use of Gye Nyame hermetic storage bags,the only storage bag that protects the post harvest grains and seeds against both internal and external attacks. It is a ground breaking Innovation by DII that integrates two technologies. It is a triple layered bag with technology that limits the permeability to oxygen and kills insects already living inside,stopping reproduction and damage to grain. The other technology is an insecticide-infused outer layer that kills insects trying to attack grains from outside the bag. These bags can store produce for up to two years at a warehouse or at home and are reusable for upto 3 years.DII farmers are offered the Akuafo grain moisture testing meter which can measure moisture content of several commodities including corn,millet and rice. This ensures reduction in post harvest losses and a flat toxins in grains to enhance farmer productivity, Dawadawa impact initiative has a focus on increasing access to good digital agriculture technology. This will include identifying and providing access to machines suited for various farm operations covering ploughing,harrowing,planting,spraying and harvesting .Digital transformation is having a great impact on the business environment, creating both challenges and opportunities. DII is commercialising use of drones and digital tools for data collection,validation and analysis for decision making. Drones are used to measure the size of the farm,weed pressure and detecting pests and diseases.
She said DII is a shareholder of Dighana foods, a social enterprise that creates a supply chain that connects farmers living in extreme poverty with local and global markets through efficient processing. It trains farmers in improved agronomic practices and gives them needed support from planting to harvesting.
She stressed that, Dawadawa Impact Initiative’s work contributes to 10 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). By providing these services to smallholder farmers, DII has helped in lowering food shortages in the communities it is already operational in and is improving the livelihoods of these farmers in the process. which food systems are currently operational and how can they resolve the issue of food insecurity in our country, Dawadawa impact initiative (DII),is owned and led by smallholder farmers.
She said the initiativeIt was established to promote regenerative farming ,reverse climate crisis and fight post harvest losses.The organisation has provided all agribusiness solutions under one roof. Farmers are now able to access affordable farming products and services and maintain the quality of their produce, without affecting their profits. This has ensured that more than 55,000 smallholder farmers from Ghana and other West African countries are experiencing lowering crop production costs by 30%. Other benefits include a yield increase from 1.5 tons to 3 tons per hectare ,which has lead to increased incomes in households from living $2 a day to $5.These agricultural technologies bring profit and efficiency to farmers while being environmental friendly.Food waste is a top three contributor of greenhouse gas emissions globally,whether scrapes from our plates after a meal,or the 40-60% of the inedible waste from animals raised for human consumption. Eno Kobi Organic bio-fertilizer,an innovative of Dawadawa, is a pest repellent natural fertilizer that seeks to improve the soil. It is planet friendly as it utilizes food waste and therefore reduces ozone depleting methane sent to the environment. DII recovers tonnes of waste food from local food markets. Through the process of compost, key nutrients like phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium are recovered and reused to enrich soil,improve quantity in yield,improve food production by 60% helping solve hunger and poverty in communities. This can also be attributed to the 50 professional and nonprofessional employment opportunity created.Dawadawa impact initiative has several post harvest services that have enabled farmers to increase production,diversify their produce,reduce losses, improve quality and increase their incomes. These services include demonstrations,trainings and services on harvesting,grading,packaging,cool storage and cool transportation,small scale processing,quality measurement,food safety and marketing of horticultural crops. They also have a retail shop where farmers can access affordable farming products and services to reduce losses and improve quality,while enabling farmers access to premium markets both locally and globally.Eco Solar Power cooling service room is a cold storage for smallholder farmers to extend the shelf life of their produce by reducing losses by up to 90%. They sell them over an extended period of time to maximize on profits at optimum prices,which has led to increasing household incomes by an average of 200%. In the rainy season,farmers may experience problems like increased risk of aflatoxins and mould build up. DII has a solar power drying service that enables farmers to dry their grain to an acceptable moisture level for long term storage. Farmers are empowered to continue producing grains and therefore ensuring food security without experiencing losses.Most farmers are forced to sell their produce soon after harvest due to lack of storage space, they miss out on extra income as commodity prices go up with time. He said there are sustainable warehousing services to ensure that farmers can keep their produce safe until they are ready to sell increasing their income and profits in the process.
These he said includes use of PICS hermetic storage bags, the only storage bag that protects the post harvest grains and seeds against both internal and external attacks. Which is a ground breaking Innovation by DII that integrates two technologies. It is a triple layered bag with technology that limits the permeability to oxygen and kills insects already living inside,stopping reproduction and damage to grain.
He noted that, the other technology is an insecticides infused outer layer that kills insects trying to attack grains from outside the bag.
These bags can store produce for up to 2 years at a warehouse or at home and are reusable for up to three years. DII farmers are offered the grain moisture testing meter which can measure moisture content of several commodities including corn, millet and rice.
This she said ensures reduction in post harvest losses and a flat toxins in grains to enhance farmer productivity.
He stressed that, Dawadawa impact initiative has a focus on increasing access to good digital agriculture technology that include identifying and providing access to machines suited for various farm operations covering ploughing,harrowing,planting,spraying and harvesting.
She said the Digital transformation is having a great impact on the business environment, creating both challenges and opportunities, as DII is commercialising use of drones and digital tools for data collection,validation and analysis for decision making. Says Drones are used to measure the size of the farm,weed pressure and detecting pests and diseases, while DII is a shareholder of Dighana foods, a social enterprise that creates a supply chain that connects farmers living in extreme poverty with local and global markets through efficient processing and trains farmers in improved agronomic practices and gives them needed support from planting to harvesting.
Dawadawa Impact Initiative’s work contributes to 10 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) by providing these services to smallholder farmers, while DII has helped in lowering food shortages in the communities and is already operational in and improving the livelihoods of these farmers in the process
