Co-Development of AICCRA Ghana Cluster Partnerships on NFCS, One-Health, Ag-data hub and EWRR Cluster

This paper highlights the draft partnership agreements developed by stakeholders in the agriculture sector of Ghana to became necessary to promote partnerships for the National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS), One-Health, Ag-data hub, and Early Warning & Rapid Response for pests and diseases (EWRR)

Effects of replacing fishmeal with black soldier fly larval meal in the diets of grower-finishing guinea fowls reared under tropical conditions

The study was conducted with the view to determine the impact of replacing fishmeal with black soldier fly larval meal (BSFLM) on growing guinea fowls. BSFLM replaced fishmeal (3% in the control diet) in the ratios of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% to produce six dietary treatments, which were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. Two hundred and forty-eight-week old guinea fowls with mean live weight of 273.2 ± 10.9 g were tagged, weighted, and randomly assigned to 24 (6 × 4) floor pens; each pen was treated as a replicate. Feed and water were provided ad libitum during the entire period, which lasted 10 weeks. Feed consumption differed among the treatment groups (P = 0.0072) with the 100% fishmeal diets recording the lowest. Daily gain was significantly (P = 0.009) higher for birds fed high BSFLM diets compared to the control (100% fishmeal diet). The inclusion of BSFLM in the diets elicited positive linear effect on weight gains of the guinea fowls (R2 = 0.91) with increasing concentration resulting in higher live weight gains. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) also differed between treatments (P < 0.05) but similar for the 100% fishmeal (control) and 100% BSFLM diets. Organ and haematopoitic integrity were equally assured regardless of levels of the protein sources fed to the birds. Generally, meats from birds fed 60 to 100% BSFLM and from hens were more acceptable. A study to evaluate the economics of utilising BSFLM in guinea fowl production is recommended

Promoting the National Framework for Climate Services in Ghana Through Collaborative Effort for Sustainable Agriculture

This policy briefing captures recommendations for the development and implementation of the National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) in Ghan

Making Climate Smart Agriculture Innovations One Health Sensitive

That is, the CSA practices ensure a healthy ecosystem (humans, animals and plants, and their shared environment). This policy brief highlights CSA and One Health concepts and outlines how CSA innovations and for that matter, any innovation can be made One Health sensitive. Ensuring CSAs are One Health sensitive brings great benefit to our agri-food systems, livelihoods as well as to the ecosystem

Making CSA-CIS-One-health Innovations Inclusive: AICCRA Ghana activities on mainstreaming and customizing innovations to women and youth needs

AICCRA Ghana prioritized cowpea and sweet potato value chains for their women friendliness in addition to maize, yam and tomatoes which also involve substantial numbers of women and youth in their value chains. The project prioritized CSA technologies that are women and youth friendly including their lower associated drudgery, affordability, availability and socio-cultural acceptability. To disseminate these technologies, AICCRA Ghana ensured plots selected to host demonstration were convenient to women. The project intentionally selected women’s plots to host demonstration as a way to demystify cultural norms around the productivity of women’s farms. The project further customized field days to the meetings of women’s VSLA groups to encourage more women to attend. The project disseminated CIS through community radios which reached many women and was crucial for farm decision making especially the harvesting of cowpea. To improve women’s decision making in farmer based organizations, AICCRA Ghana convened women’s sub-groups and engaged in transformative dialogues around gender norms that impede their participation and leadership. This improved women’s collective action and improved their voice in FBOs

Training Manual on Bundled Climate Smart Agriculture, Climate Information Services and One-Health Technologies for Priority Value Chains

The manual is an addendum to the prioritized and bundled Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and Climate Information Services Innovations that is One Health Sensitive. The manual is designed as an extension and training tool for trainers of trainees (TOT) and extension agents to support smallholder farmers most especially stakeholders in AICCRA intervention communities. Users will find the manual very useful and it is hoped that Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs), farmers, students, and other end users will apply the modules to increase crop production in the target agroecologies. Specifically, the manual provides climate information services, climate smart agriculture innovations and one health intervention that have been prioritized along maize, cowpea, yam, sweetpotato and tomato value chains

African agri-entrepreneurship in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Background The African continent is known for high entrepreneurial activity, especially in the agricultural sector. Despite this, the continent's economic development is below expectations, due to numerous factors constraining the growth and sustainability of agricultural SMEs. These constraints have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to understand the pathways through which the pandemic affected agri-SMEs, with specific focus on assessing the differentiated effects arising from the size of the agri-SME and the gender of the owner-manager. Methods Data was collected from over 100 agri-SMEs, ranging in size from sole proprietorships with one employee to agri-SMEs employing up to 100 people, in six African countries. Mixed methods were used to analyse the data with changes in business operations arising from changing market access, regimented health and safety guidelines and constrained labour supply assessed using visualisations and descriptive statistics. Logistic regression modelling was employed to determine the set of variables contributing to agri-SME business downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results All surveyed agri-SMEs were negatively affected by COVID-19-associated restrictions with the size of the firm and gender of the owner-managers resulting in differentiated impacts. The smallest agri-SMEs, mainly owner-managed by women, were more likely to experience disruptions in marketing their goods and maintaining their labour supply. Larger agri-SMEs made changes to their business operations to comply with government guidelines during the pandemic and made investments to manage their labour supply, thus sustaining their business operations. In addition, logistic regression modelling results show that financing prior to the pandemic, engaging in primary agricultural production, and being further from urban centres significantly influenced the likelihood of a firm incurring business losses. Conclusions These findings necessitate engendered multi-faceted agri-SME support packages that are tailored for smaller-sized agri-SMEs. Any such support package should include support for agri-SMEs to develop sustainable marketing strategies and help them secure flexible financing that considers payment deferrals and debt moratorium during bona fide market shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic

Traditional poultry farmers’ willingness to pay for using fly larvae meal as protein source to feed local chickens in Benin

This study estimated poultry farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for fly larvae meal as animal protein source to feed local chickens in Benin. A double-bounded contingent valuation approach was used to collect data from 480 poultry farmers, and an interval regression model was performed. We found that 82.10% of poultry farmers are willing to pay for using fly larvae meal. The average WTP was estimated at FCFA/ kg 225.10 (€/kg 0.34), indicating a potential and reliable demand in fly larvae meal. Our analysis suggests that public actions can sensitize poultry farmers and support innovative small companies to produce and market fly larvae meal

Decomposition and nutrients release pattern of animal manures biodegraded by fly larvae in Acrisols

The study aims to assess the decomposition of manure biodegraded by fly larvae and nutrients mineralization rates to understand the efficiency of the biodegraded manures for further use as soil amendment. A litter bag experiment was carried out over 75 days in an Acrisol in Benin using poultry manure, pig manure, mixture of poultry and sheep manure, mixture of poultry and cow manure, and mixture of poultry and pig manure, biodegraded by Musca domestica larvae. Nutrients content in the manures during the different stages of decomposition were analyzed. The mono-component exponential model Yt=Y0*e-kt best described the manure decomposition and nutrients mineralization. The manures decomposed fast in the soil and their nutrients were released fast in the poultry manure, the mixture of poultry and pig manure and the mixture of poultry and cow manure. Nutrient mineralization increased in the order PThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Use of Termites by Farmers as Poultry Feed in Ghana

The aim of the study was to gather information on the use of termites by farmers as feed for indigenous poultry in Ghana and factors affecting its use. We conducted surveys in four regions in Ghana to collect information, by the administration of questionnaires, on the use of termites as poultry feed, termite species collected, species not used and collection methods. Samples of termite species mentioned were collected and identified to the genus level. Twenty-three percent and 19% of farmers mentioned that termites are always or often used to feed poultry whereas 11% never use termites. A binomial regression analysis showed that their utilization was affected by region, sex, education, farm size and income. Termites collected belonged to eight genera, the main ones being Macrotermes, Trinervitermes and Odontotermes. Five collection methods are used to obtain termites and involve either breaking mounds or using containers as traps. Collection methods vary with species and region and the abundance of termite genera varies with season. Farmers identified some species as poisonous to poultry. Termites are important in indigenous poultry production because they are a readily available protein source for local farmers. However, better collection methods need to be developed to aid their optimal use