Amoah, Philip

Cofie, Olufunke O.

Danso, George K.

Drechsel, Pay

Keraita, Bernard N.

Obuobie, Emmanuel

Raschid-Sally, Liqa

CGSpace

Irrigated Urban VegetableProduction in Ghana:Characteristics, Benefits andRisksEmmanuel Obuobie, Bernard Keraita,George Danso, Philip Amoah, Olufunke O. Cofie,Liqa Raschid-Sally and Pay DrechselIWMI - RUAF - CPWF2006iiThe authors:IWMI’s research group on urban and peri-urban agriculture started operations in Ghana in19991 under the coordination of Dr. Pay Drechsel. Pay has over 20 years of professionalexperience in natural resources management and has been living in Ghana for the past eightyears. He is an expert in urban agriculture in Africa, a board member of the ‘RUAFFoundation’ and in the steering committee of the CGIAR initiative ‘Urban Harvest’. Since2005, Pay has been heading IWMI’s new global research theme on "Agriculture, Water andCities". He works closely with Dr. Liqa Raschid-Sally who has more than 25 years ofprofessional experience in wastewater management in agriculture with special focus on Asiaand Africa, and Dr. Olufunke Cofie, who is the coordinator of the Network of ResourceCentres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) in Anglophone West Africa. Thethree are supported by a number of staff including Philip Amoah, George Danso, BernardKeraita and Emmanuel Obuobie, who started their scientific careers as MSc students inIWMI’s projects on urban and peri-urban agriculture in Ghana. Today, they are Ph.D. studentshaving affiliations with universities in Ghana, Canada, Denmark and Germany, respectively.George is an Agricultural Economist, Philip studied Environmental Science/Microbiology,and Ben and Emmanuel graduated as Irrigation and Water Engineers. All authors are IWMIstaff based in IWMI’s Office for Africa in Ghana. The team has over 40 publications on urbanand peri-urban agriculture to its credit.Suggested Citation:Obuobie, E., Keraita, B., Danso, G., Amoah, P., Cofie, O.O., Raschid-Sally, L. andP. Drechsel. 2006. Irrigated urban vegetable production in Ghana: Characteristics, benefitsand risks. IWMI-RUAF-CPWF, Accra, Ghana: IWMI, 150 pp.Cover photos: International Water Management Institute (IWMI)ISBN  92-9090-628-6ISBN  978-92-9090-628-5Copyright © 2006 by IWMI, Ghana. All rights reserved.Please send inquiries and comments to: iwmi-ghana@cgiar.orgPrinted by CSIR-INSTI, Printing Division, Accra, Ghana.1 This was still under IBSRAM (International Board for Soil Research and Management), which became part ofIWMI in 2001.iiiCONTENTSFOREWORDACKNOWLEDGEMENTS1. INTRODUCTION1.1 The urbanization challenge      11.2 Urban and peri-urban agriculture      11.3 Sanitation, water quality and irrigation      31.4 Objective and overview of the book      42. STUDY SITES, CROPPING SYSTEMS AND PROFILE OF FARMERS2.1 The study sites in Ghana      52.2 Irrigated urban agriculture in Accra      72.3 Irrigated urban agriculture in Kumasi    122.4 Irrigated urban agriculture in Tamale    152.5 Irrigated urban agriculture in other cities    172.6 General farming characteristics    182.7 Profile of urban vegetable farmers in Ghana    213. GENDER IN IRRIGATED URBAN VEGETABLE FARMING3.1 General situation    263.2 Male dominance in urban open-space vegetable farming    273.3 Female dominance in marketing of urban farm produce    293.4 Conclusions    304. FINANCIAL BENEFITS AND TRADE-OFFS4.1 Financial analysis    314.2 Comparing informal and formal irrigation    334.3 Socio-economic impact and urban food supply    344.4 Externalities    374.5 Conclusions    425. QUANTIFICATION OF MARKETING CHANNELS FOR LETTUCE5.1  Background and objectives    435.2  Details on surveys    435.3 Marketing    455.4 Food flows    475.5 Customers and consumers    515.6  Conclusions and strategies for improved hygiene    536. SANITATION AND URBAN WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT6.1 Review on wastewater concepts    556.2 Domestic wastewater disposal and treatment in Ghana    586.3 Kumasi as a case study    626.4 Situation in Accra and Tamale    656.5 Applicability of conventional wastewater treatment systems    676.6 Conclusions and recommendations    68iv7. WATER QUALITY IN AND AROUND THE CITIES7.1 Key indicators    707.2 Sampling sites and methods    707.3 Changes in water quality along the main stream    717.4 Seasonal variations of coliform levels    747.5 Water quality in vegetable farming sites    757.6 Conclusions and recommendations    778.  IRRIGATION PRACTICES8.1 Sources of irrigation water    798.2 Irrigation methods and technologies used    808.3 Water and land productivity    838.4 Options and constraints to technology change    848.5 Faecal sludge as a source of nutrients    868.6  Conclusions and recommendations    899. QUALITY OF VEGETABLES IN URBAN MARKETS9.1 Sampling and analyses    909.3 Coliform counts    919.4 Helminth eggs    979.5 Heavy metals    989.6 Pesticides    989.7 Conclusions and recommendations  10010. PERCEPTIONS OF STAKEHOLDERS10.1 Data collection  10310.2 Perceptions of farmers  10410.3 Perceptions of vegetable sellers  10810.4 Perceptions of consumers  11010.5 Perceptions of city officials  11210.6 Perceptions of the Government  11310.7 Perceptions and role of the media  11510.8 Conclusions  11611. INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS OF URBAN FARMING AND”WASTEWATER IRRIGATION”11.1 Informality of irrigated urban farming  11811.2 Agencies relevant to irrigated urban farming  11911.3 Regulatory bylaws  12611.4 Integration into city planning  12811.5 Conclusions  13012. THE WAY FORWARD: HEALTH RISK MANAGEMENT IN  LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES12.1 Applying international guidelines  13312.2 The new WHO guidelines  13412.3 Prioritizing risk management strategies  13512.4 Intermediate options for risk management  13612.5 Need for further research  140REFERENCES  142vForewordExotic vegetables, like lettuce, are not part of the traditional Ghanaian diet. However, morethan 200,000 urban dwellers eat them daily on Accra’s streets, and in canteens andrestaurants. About 90% of the perishable vegetables are produced in closest market proximitydue to their fragile nature and the common lack of cold transport and storage. Thesevegetables are a preferred cash crop, which can lift poor farmers out of poverty. On the otherhand, farmers have huge problems finding in and around the cities unpolluted water sourcesfor irrigation. This dilemma is directly linked to uncontrolled urbanization and poorsanitation. Ghana is in this regard a representative example for sub-Saharan Africa.Over the last five years, IWMI’s research in Ghana has had a major thrust in urban and peri-urban agriculture in general and irrigated (open-space) vegetable farming in particular. Thisbook summarizes results from a large number of students’ theses and research reports. It givesa comprehensive overview of urban and peri-urban vegetable farming in Ghana’s major cities,and highlights besides economic impacts, consequences and perceptions related to the use ofwastewater. The book ends with recommendations on how in a low-income country likeGhana health risks for consumers could be effectively reduced, while simultaneouslysupporting the important contribution of open-space urban and peri-urban agriculture. Thebook will certainly serve students, the academia and policy makers as an invaluable resource.Akiça BahriDirector for AfricaIWMIviviiAcknowledgementsMost of the information used in this book were gathered from different studies funded or co-funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and its Agropolis program,the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the Network ofResource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF), the Challenge Programon Water & Food (CPWF) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research(CGIAR), the CGIAR system-wide initiative “Urban Harvest” and the International WaterManagement Institute (IWMI) which integrated in 2001 the International Board for SoilResearch and Management (IBSRAM). We would like to express our appreciations to all ofthem.We would like to acknowledge the input of about 40 students that the projects supportedunder the guidance of their academic supervisors in Ghana and abroad. Although we cannotlist all of them, we like to thank especially Dr. R.C. Abaidoo, Dr. S.C. Fialor, Dr. GordanaKranjac-Berisavljevic, Dr. S.K. Agodzo, Dr. F.P. Huibers and Dr. F. Konradsen.We are much obliged to our former team members Ms. Lucy Gyiele (Kwame NkrumahUniversity of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana) and Dr. Eveline Klinkenberg(Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK) for their invaluable contributions.Pay DrechselMay 2006IWMI: International Water Management Institute:  www.iwmi.orgRUAF: Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security: www.ruaf.orgIDRC: International Development Research Centre:  www.idrc.caCPWF: Challenge Program on Water & Food: www.waterandfood.orgThe book was printed with financial support from IDRC and RUAF. The opinions expressed in thebook are primarily those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the institutionsinvolved.viii

Irrigated urban vegetable production in Ghana: Characteristics benefits and risks

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