The five year-project, which seeks to address common natural phenomenon impeding food production in the sub-region, has been launched in Kumasi with a call on stakeholders to join forces to promote food security.

The Regional Body having identified floods, droughts, pests, livestock diseases among others, as factors militating against food production, have found it expedient to coordinate efforts among its member nations to strengthen food system risk management in the sub-region through the FSRP.

Increasing preparedness against food insecurity and building resilience of food systems in participating countries is the development objective of the programme, which is being implemented in Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).

The project will roll out a combination of adaptive, innovative, and sustainable interventions that will arm vulnerable households, families, farmers, and communities, to withstand uncertainty and shocks in food production and supply in the sub-region.

Mr Osei Owusu-Agyemang, the Project Coordinator who gave an overview of the project, said about 700 hectares of inner valleys in Ashanti, Bono, and Eastern Regions, would be re-engineered to enhance rice production as part of the programme.

He said this would come with the provision of irrigation facilities to achieve all-year water availability, construction of drying platforms, supply of improved climate smart seeds, and the mobilisation of farmers into Farm Based Organisations.

He also spoke about the rehabilitation of some agricultural facilities including laboratories in institutions such as the Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute at Bunsu, Veterinary Services at Dormaa Ahenkro and Accra, and that of the Crops Research Institute in Kumasi.

Other facilities are the Grains and Legumes Board Laboratory in Kumasi, Wheta Irrigation Scheme in the Volta Region, Savannah Agric Research Institute, Tanoso Irrigation Scheme, Vea Irrigation Scheme in the Bongo District as well as laboratory facilities at selected border posts.

Mr Owusu-Agyemang also disclosed that a Grievance Review Committee made up of reputable figure heads in society had been put together to handle disputes as and when they arose.

FSRP.

The decision of architects of the programme to focus on sustainability as a critical element, was to ensure actual adoption and adaptation which transcended the duration of the programme, he said.

"We should not fail to pinch ourselves every day that, families and communities far and near and of varying economic statuses are looking up to us to lead the way in the defense against uncertainties, risks and production, distribution and dishing of food, from soilto sale, to soup," he emphasised.

Dr Bryn Acheampong, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, in a speech read for him, said the agricultural sector remained a key driver of Ghana's economy, employing 38.3 per cent of the total workforce and accounting for 20 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Products (GDP) for the past six years.

He said the sector, despite all the success chalked, still experienced several challenges that hampered food systems resilience, saying that COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war made it imperative to shore up resilience of the country's food systems.

"The successes of previous collaborative regional agricultural programmes like the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) have demonstrated the strength we derive from unity and shared goals," the Minister stated.

He said resilience afforded farmers and their households the ability to withstand shocks that may affect their agriculture enterprise and recover from such shocks.

A statement read for the Country Director of the World Bank, Pierre Laporte, highlighted global food and nutrition crisis triggered by high prices thereby driving millions into extreme poverty, magnifying hunger and malnutrition, and threatening to erase hard-won gains in development.

"This is the time to take urgent action to ease the impact of higher food prices and ensure the most vulnerable have access to food, while at the same time building resilience," he said.

He said there could be no food security unless Ghana's food system was transformed.