Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
manifestation
Low yield
technical causes
Pests, diseases &
crop damage
Low soil fertility
social causes
Cutting
trees
Inadequate soil
care
Bush
fires
Stray
animals
Erosion
Poor resource
management
Economic
structure
Inadequate
eduction
Political super
structure
cultural causes
Traditional
super-structure
Figure 1
Soil fertility in the Northern Ghanaian context.
The African backbone is agriculture
The backbone of African societies is agriculture. Most African farmers first produce to feed
their own families, and second produce for the national and world market. In general, soils are
poor and fertility is easily lost by bad practices. In Ghana, for example, soil fertility is always
threatened by human activities like tree felling, bushfires and stray animals (Figure 1).
In Ghna it is very clear: agriculture is the carrier of society. If agriculture is not developing,
then other development (e.g. education, health, literacy, food security) will be very difficult. In
Northern Ghana, about 30% to 40% of children are malnourished (GDHS 1998). These
children grow into adults with a limited capacity to contribute to the labour force and enact
change, which will impede development. Although more than only food security is needed to
prevent malnutrition, agriculture is the starting point for development.
The traditional production leel
Grain production yields, especially maize, the most important staple crop in Northern Ghana,
range from 1000 to 4500 kg ha
-1
(Iddi 1996), depending on the rate of inputs. When farmers do
not use inputs, and this includes most farming households, production levels are determined by
natural processes like deposition by the desert wind called the Harmatan, nitrogen fixing by
leguminous weeds, erosion from higher located fields and the use of animal manure (Table 1).
Maize contains 9% protein, and protein contains 16% nitrogen (N). A maize yield of 1
tonne containing 14.4 kg N, means an N efficiency of 70%. This is already quite high. When
erosion occurs or manure is not applied, yields will reduce immediately. Where natural inputs
