Sustainable Intensification of Key Farming Systems in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of West Africa

AFRICA RISING

Project Detail

The Africa RISING project is a key pathway towards better food security, improved livelihoods, and a healthy environment. Various technologies have been developed and validated by Africa RISING and STEPRI has been part of this effort. STEPRI has been involved in the implementation of activities that contribute mainly to Outcomes 3 and 4. So far, work has been done to analyze farmers’ access to input and output markets, delivery pathways for SI technologies and the role of government extension services, review of agricultural mechanization policy ordinances in Ghana, and simulation analysis on SI technology adoption. This project was a wrap-up effort to ensure that work that was started in 2019 and represented in the form of Policy Briefs using the available past reports from STEPRI which will go a long way to address policy-related needs to enforce the work.

Start Date:12th June 2017
Duration:Four Years, (Extended by Six Months, 1st January-31st July 2022)
Funding source (donor):USAID
Location:Selected Communities in Northern Ghana

Participating scientists (with PI)

Results Achieved

Six policy briefs and four fact sheets were developed and printed for community dialogues and stakeholder engagements in the Northern regions (Tamale, Navrongo, and Wa) as well as in Greater Accra. Dissemination exercises for field work involved workshops with farmers, policymakers, CSOs, and other relevant stakeholders. There were Agricultural Extension Agents and Community mobilizers in the region of Upper West, Upper East, and Northern regions who were assigned to coordinate farmers’ mobility from communities to regional dissemination workshops held in Wa, Bolgatanga, and Tamale. In addition, there is a draft paper on gender and technology adoption. The main objective is to identify factors that influence male and female SIPs adoption decisions, separately.

Project Achievements and Impacts

The team assembled the previous reports of the Africa RISING Project from 2019 to 2021 which were used for the policy dialogues and dissemination exercises at selected locations with relevant stakeholders. These policy dialogues and dissemination activities are aimed to popularize the outcomes of the project and promote SIPS adoption among farmers and gain support from policymakers. The policy briefs are designed in recognition of the objectives of the current project. The title of the policy briefs was as follows;

Effective Delivery of Farm Services as a way of addressing dis-adoption and discontinuous use of Sustainable Intensification Practices in Northern Ghana.
What Factors Influence Adoption of Sustainable Intensification Practices?
Resolving the Market Challenges of Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana
Sustainable Extension Delivery Pathway.
Understanding Sustainable Intensification Policy Gaps in Ghana’s Agricultural Development.
Agricultural Mechanization Policy Gaps in Ghana.

The title of the fact sheets was as follows;

Enhancing Adoption and Utilization of Agricultural Mechanization for Sustainable Agriculture Development in Northern Ghana.
To Get a Better Understanding of How Output Markets in Their Various Forms Work Out in Northern Ghana.
To Get a Better Understanding of How Input Markets in Their Various Forms Work Out.
Benefits of Adopting Sustainable Intensification Practices.

This project is partnering with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) via their available knowledge management platform (FARA’s DataInformS). The platform will be used to disseminate widely policy briefs and fact sheets. to inform different stakeholders about lessons learned from the intervention.

Dissemination workshop with extension officers in Northern Ghana

Way Forward

After almost 12 years, the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) Program supported by the United States Agency for International Development as part of the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative is ending. There was a closeout event from 7 – 9 February 2023 in Alisa Hotel, Accra, Ghana.

During the meeting, which brought together stakeholders from the three regional projects presented:

Present and critically assess our research and development results; and
Harness critical lessons for future agricultural systems research for development.