Navrongo (U/E). Dec. 20, - A
three year cowpea out -scale project implemented to improve nutrition levels of
women and children to reduce poverty in 63,000 households in the northern
regions has come to an end.
The project, ‘taking cowpea to scale in West
Africa’, dubbed COSP project, involved
152 communities in 38 districts of the three regions, ten districts in Upper East, eight in Upper West and 20 in
the Northern regions.
Dr Ibrahim D.K Atokple, the
Country Coordinator of COSP, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in
Navrongo, said the project was supported by Feed the Future Programme of USAID.
He said it was meant to reduce
poverty, malnutrition and address the country’s challenges with reference to
the Ghana Living Standards survey of 2010, that identifies the three northern
regions among the most poverty endemic regions in the country.
Dr Atokple said diseases of
majority of the populace in the country were due to malnutrition, particularly
pregnant women and children and noted that the project which was under the
auspices of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), promoted
improved technology of cowpea, which is high in protein, from research
institutions to farmers.
He said the project hopes to
increase domestic consumption of cowpea and increase the income levels from
sales of the surplus product by farmers.
On the sustainability of the
project, the Country Coordinator said
the entire cow pea value chain, from seed to processing was considered as a factor and added that a nucleus out-growers
scheme was in place to ensure continuous supply of seed.
He said in 2017 alone, 350 out
grower groups have been registered whilst some farmers in Navrongo in the Upper
East and Walewale in the Northern Region have been contracted to produce more
seeds for Heritage Seed Company among others.
Dr Atokpele, who highlighted the
outcome of the project in a presentation at a workshop to end the project in
Navrongo in the Kassena Nankana Municipality, said women out-growers formed 60
per cent of the beneficiaries of the project.
He said the cowpea up-scale seeks
to come out with best cowpea varieties, step up production technologies,
integrated pest management, appropriate crop management practices and improved
post -harvest storage.
The project, he said, was in
collaboration with the Savanah Research Institute (SARI), the Ministry of Food
and Agriculture (MOFA) from the three regions, the Seed growers associations of
Ghana and Four innovative platforms with one each in Upper East and Upper West
Regions and two in Northern Region and worked with over 200 farmer group
organizations.
Dr Simon Nchor, the West Africa
Coordinator of the IITA, said COSP was implemented in four countries in West
Africa including Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal to reduce poverty and improve
food and nutrition security.
He said the project which
promoted innovation, worked through partners in cowpea value chain in good seed
system, input and agronomic practices through education, training and
demonstrations and made available improved seeds.
Dr Nchor said the project since
its implementation has cultivated 10,000 tons of quality cowpea seeds and added
that 5,000 farming institutions have been trained while over 15,000 families
were trained on cow pea utilizations.
GNA
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