By Seidu Khadija
PADFM 95.1 - Damongo.
The Savannah Regional Agricultural Extension Officer, Kenneth Oboidai Laryea has cautioned that all human activities that lead to destruction of the vegetative cover must be stopped or reduced drastically, else the area faces food security challenges in the near future.
He said deforestation is a devastating issue that is negatively affecting the agricultural sector with food insecurity being it's greatest impact in the Savannah region.
Kenneth Oboidai Laryea indicated that, deforestation affects the amount of rainfall during the rainy season which has a negative impact on farming and food production.
"Statistics show that, the amount of rainfall in Damongo, the regional capital keeps reducing. A point in reference is in the year 2020 which revealed that it rained just 27 times and reduced to 24 times in 2021 which clearly shows the gradual reduction in rainfall", he said.
Oboidai Laryea said this in an interview with Damongo based community radio station, PADFM 95.1mhz on Tuesday, 14th June, 2022.
Oboidai Laryea added that, even with the subsidies provided by the government of Ghana on agricultural inputs to ensure high yields of farm produce, there is still a low level of food production which is due to the reduction in rainfalls, caused by deforestation. So there is a possibility that food insecurity issues may rise, looking at the rate at which the population is increasing as compared to the low level of food production in the country
Oboidai Laryea urges the farmers, hunters, government, NGOs and the general public to practice afforestation by replacing felled trees irrespective of the professional standards of all to save Gonjaland from food insecurity.
Food security, as defined by the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.
It is also, the measure of an individual’s ability to access food that is nutritious and sufficient in quantity. Some definitions of food security specify that food must also meet an individual’s food preferences and dietary needs for active and healthy lifestyles.
The levels of food security include availability, access, utilisation and stability.
Government of Ghana over the years has subsidized agriculture inputs to make them affordable to farmers.
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