The Political Economy of Seed Policy and Food Security in Ghana

Abstract

In mainstream agricultural policy, food insecurity, poverty and underdevelopment in sub Saharan Africa are attributed to the low uptake of commercial seeds and other productivity enhancing inputs. This view is derived from neo-Malthusian concerns of population expansion, and the impacts of climate change and pest and diseases on agricultural production. The discourse argues for an increasing role of the private sector in improving agricultural production, but remains silent on the implications of the expansion of agribusiness for the rights of farmers to freely save and exchange seed. This study seeks to gain a broader understanding of these issues through a combination of theoretical viewpoints and multiple levels of analysis. This includes a political-economic approach that examines interventions promoted by the state and other actors within different economic contexts. Historically, the state and non-state actors have intervened in food production. The first major interventions in agricultural development in Ghana was a state-led approach involving mechanised cereal production on state and cooperative farms in the 1960s. Following this phase was a publicly funded archetypal green revolution programme involving large-scale commercial farmers in the 1970s. The third intervention focused on the development of technologies for smallholder farmers after the withdrawal of state support for large-scale farmers in the 1980s. In the contemporary period, the state has created an environment for private enterprise through the liberalisation of markets, renewal of input subsidies, attempts to commercialise genetically modified crops, and support for intellectual property rights. Using farm-level and other socio-economic data for four rural districts in Ghana, the study also examines the factors that underpin cropping systems, agricultural commercialisation and their related social relations of production, and the extent to which technology adoption differs among geographic and agro-ecological zones, and different groups of farmers. In the Garu Tempane district of North-eastern Ghana where land is scarce and farming environments are more difficult, farmers are adopting improved crop varieties (especially maize and sorghum), organic manure and chemical fertilisers, as part of efforts to prevent significant declines in crop output. However, millets (which receive little support in agricultural research) continue to be an important crop due to different uses of the available varieties, and their ability to perform well in this difficult environment. In contrast to Garu-Tempane, land availability and fertility are the most important assets for rural livelihoods in the East Gonja district located in the lower part of Northern Ghana. Here, the cropping system comprises the cultivation of tubers, roots crops, and cereals. Technology adoption in this district is reflected in the high use of machinery services and weedicides than in the adoption of improved seed. There is also a discernible class of large commercial farmers who rely extensively on hired labour, agricultural machinery and weedicides. In spite of relative land availability in East Gonja, women’s rights to land are weak. In contrast, there is a greater participation of women in agriculture and rural labour markets in Garu-Tempane, and their rights to land are stronger. In both Garu-Tempane and East Gonja, technology adoption does not occur in a vacuum but is mainly mediated by local level institutions comprising non-governmental organisations, farmer based organisations and government programmes, small seed and agro-input companies and shops, and small banks. These institutions receive critical support from international development agencies and actors such as AGRA that promote green revolution interventions. In contrast to the Northern districts, agricultural commercialisation in the Asunafo North and Kwaebibirem districts of Southern Ghana mainly involves cocoa production for the world market. This reflects a long history of state and agribusiness support for the development of industrial tree crops. The production of forest tree crops involving sharecropping arrangements, the establishment of forest reserves in the colonial period, and land sales and scarcity, have resulted in weak land rights for women and rural youth in the Southern districts. Further, although Southern farmers can produce food without much dependence on commercial seeds and chemical fertilisers, food production receives less attention, resulting in seasonal food shortages and high food prices. While Asunafo North has two rainy seasons, its four month period of food shortages is comparable with that of the East Gonja district, where rainfall is unimodal. In conclusion, this study argues that attempts to improve well-being in rural areas should simultaneously pursue participatory research and learning between farmers and agricultural scientists (especially for those crops that receive little attention in agricultural research and production), promoting land rights for women and other poorer classes (including improving their access to forest resources), and the formalisation of agricultural employment. Importantly, the crucial role of government policy and dynamics in the global economy on food security requires that primary attention is given to broader economic policy and preventive measures that ameliorate the negative impacts of economic crisis.