A senior research scientist with the Centre For Scientic and Industrial Research (CSIR), Stephen Yeboah, has said that farmers in the country need to be guided on when and how to sow.
According to him, climate change and its adverse effects account for this.
He said due to the impact of climate change effects on countries including Ghana, the rain pattern has changed such that the rains do not fall at the expected time and even when they do, they don’t last as long as they used to.
“This explains why farmers should be guided on farming by using ‘Climate Smart Agriculture’ or ‘Climate Information Services’, which aim at teaching farmers when to plant, among other things,” he asserted.
Mr. Yeboah stated that the situation is serious and that if no precautions are taken in the coming years, farmers will face a 30% decrease in yields in food crops such as maize, millet, and soyabeans, among others.
The researcher disclosed that 60 percent of Ghanaians are into farming and if they are not taught and trained about their vocation, they may go out of business in no time. He added that AICCRA is ready to help Ghanaian farmers enhance their productivity, having secured adequate funding from the World Bank.
Mr. Yeboah gave this hint when AICCRA Ghana organised a one-day workshop for some journalists and farmers in Accra on Thursday.
AICCRA is an organisation dedicated to making climate information services and climate-smart agriculture more accessible to millions of smallholder farmers across Africa. The organisation presently operates in six countries, namely Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia.