IT IS man who has caused the climate change but man cannot do anything about it. How soon is man to afforestate the Sahara? When is man going to replenish the oceans with the sperm whales so that they can adequately play their role in global cooling?
But the signs shown by root and tuber crops particularly yam, that they thrive well in our present and unpredictable weather, are indications that if they are developed, Ghana would be able to produce enough food to support our growing population if the climate changes or not.
From the history of Africa’s agriculture, such change would not be the first in Africa. Since it has been reported that in the early century of the Christian era, root and tuber crops were introduced into Africa after cereals (Bohannan, 1964). It could be that, the climate change as we are experiencing now probably occurred during that era and there was the need for crops which could thrive by then.
According to Grigg (1964) our ancestors practiced vegeculture under shifting cultivation in West Africa. Thus, our ancestors were growing crops that were vegetatively propagated such as yam, taro, potato and plantain.
Our experiencing climate change now confirms that history repeats itself. Like our ancestors, the time has come for the government to shift its policy from seed agriculture to vegeculture by establishing Root and Tuber Crop Board to ensure the development and production of root and tuber crops to feed the growing population during this period of unpredictable weather condition. At the ninth symposium of the International Society For Tropical Root Crops, which was held in Accra in 1991, root and tuber crops were described as insurance crops which survive very arduous tropical conditions and in addition, have the potential for use as a source of cheap feed for the development of the livestock industry.
If this observation was made when the prevailing weather conditions that time was relatively favourable for grain production, now the weather is changing to favour root and tuber crop production, and that is why the attention of the Government is being sought for a policy on the development of these crops.
The Board for Root and Tuber Crops, if set up, should have Research, Extension, Marketing and Processing Units. To save the root and tuber industry, particularly, the yam industry, the board should first set up Extension and Marketing Units. The Extension Unit should start to teach or train farmers and yam sellers the proper handling of yam tubers at harvest, in storage and in transit to eliminate the tuber soft rot experienced by both sellers and consumers. The crop policy a special unit of extension should be taught how yam tubers should be properly transported so that, they can arrest drivers who transport yams under unhealthy unhygienic conditions. Thus, the crop policy would be contributing to the reduction in post-harvest losses. The Marketing Unit should set up marketing centers with the proper storage facilities and transport systems.
Farmer Losses
Presently, even though yam has been available almost throughout the year, farmers are not gaining because they lack proper storage facilities for their produce, which they can sell when the market is good. Yam farmers are losing now because they are forced to sell within a short period after harvest, to reduce post-harvest losses because they generally lack adequate storage facilities for the high yam yield. Currently, yam sellers are taking undue advantage of the yam farmers by offering low prices, which yam farmers have to accept, in order to pay their debts and survive.
Yam Sellers Gain
In spite of the poor handling of yam tubers after harvest, in transit and in storage, yam sellers make their profit because of the high prices at which they are able sell at urban markets otherwise, they would not stay in business even though they are aware that consumers are not buying as many tubers as they used to buy previously.
With the board establishing a good distribution system and guaranteed prices, both the yam farmer and the consumer stand to gain. Yam sellers could go to the yam centers set up by the board to buy and sell to consumers though they might not make as much profit as they do when they buy directly from yam farmers. Thus, they would be experiencing minimal losses through the soft rot.
The board should ensure that for one to qualify as a yam seller, they must have the appropriate facilities for the storage and display of yam tubers for sale. This will also help to reduce post-harvest losses as a food security measure, after yam sellers have made their purchases from the warehouse of the board.
Future National Food Security
For the expansion and sustainability of the root and tuber crop industry, the research unit should study and develop the various root and tuber crops adopted to the various agro-ecological zones of Ghana. Seed gardens of all types of root and tuber crops should be established in specific areas of Ghana where particular types of roots and tuber crop is well adapted and most preferred by the people in that area. The policy of planting valley-bottoms with rice should be replaced with that of taro (Ntwibu, kooko) a natural valley-bottom crop which has now virtually disappeared from the market.
The board has to set up processing units in major root and tuber crop growing areas to process excess produce into chips, slices and flour for livestock and industrial uses. Roots and tubers are perishable and processing these would adequately help to prolong their shelf lives and considerably reduce post–harvest losses in Ghana. Studies have shown that between 15% and 20% of cassava flour could be added to wheat flour to make very acceptable bread, thus reducing our total dependence on wheat and thus saving foreign exchange.
The attention being drawn to the need for a policy for the development and production of root and tuber crops in Ghana as food security crops is a timely warning. The climate change is true. It is irreversible but root and tuber crops have the potential for Ghana to overcome any adverse effects of climate change now and for the future.
God bless our homeland Ghana…
REFRENCES
Aquaye (1969) Respiration in Yam M.Sc Thesis. Department of Botany University of
Legon- Accra.
Griqq, D.B. (1978). Shifting Cultivation in Africa: In the Agricultural Systems of the world –
An evolution Approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge London. Pg. 65-69
Ross H. (2011) Global Warming Guidelines: In Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job –
How the Oldest Book in the Bible Answers Todays Scientific Questions. Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids, Michigau USA pg. 63 – 66
BY Dr. Yaw Opoku Asiama