Invitation to Inter-College Lecture - College of Basic and Applied Sciences

Members of the University community are hereby invited to an Inter-College Lecture being organised by the College of Basic and Applied Sciences as follows:   

Topic: Can Soybean Contribute to Farming System Sustainability and Poverty Reduction in the Savannahs of Northern Ghana?

Lecturer: Professor Samuel Adjei-Nsiah, Forest and Horticultural Crops Research Centre, College of Basic and Applied Sciences

Date: Thursday, July 18, 2024

Time: 4:30 pm

Venue: ISSER Conference Facility

Chairman: Prof Boateng Onwona-Agyeman, Provost, College of Basic and Applied Sciences

Please find the abstract and profile of the lecturer below:

ABSTRACT 

Soybean has become a cash/export crop in demand in Ghana, with the demand for grains exceeding the supply by farmers. The growing demand for domestic markets to meet the poultry and freshwater fish industries is estimated at 650,000 Metric Tons. At the same time, there is an increasing demand for the export market of about 100,000 Metric Tons annually.

Currently, annual domestic production for soybean grains is about 340,000 Metric Tons. This is only 45 % of the domestic and export market demand and indicates an annual demand deficit of 410,000 Metric Tons. In contrast, the annual potential production is estimated above 1,000,000 Metric Tons.  This represents a great opportunity for smallholder farmers who dominate the growing of soybean to increase production for enhanced household income.

Considering that soybean is mainly grown in the savannas of northern Ghana, an area with the highest level of poverty (with a multi-dimensional poverty index of 74%) and food insecurity (habouring 17-18% of Ghana’s most food insecure population) in Ghana, the growing domestic and export market demand represents an excellent poverty reduction pathway for the region. Recent studies have put the current value of Nitrogen fixed by soybean in smallholder farming systems in sub-Sahara Africa at 375 million USD annually.

Despite the above-described opportunities, the potential contribution of soybeans to poverty reduction and farming system sustainability has not been exploited to a larger extent. The Ghana Soybean Supply Chain (GSSC) continues to be confronted with numerous challenges which are impeding productivity growth and limiting the sector's ability to achieve its anticipated potential gains and impact. For instance, limited mechanisation along the production chain and access to input credit by predominantly smallholder farmers are critical constraints. Other significant challenges include limited access to productivity-enhancing technologies (e.g., certified seeds, fertilizers, and inoculants) and reduced access to adequate and timely information on markets, prices, and weather.

This presentation discusses the socio-economic importance of soybean production in Ghana, the challenges associated with the value chain and how the crop can be exploited to contribute to poverty reduction and farming system sustainability in the savannas of northern Ghana.

BRIEF PROFILE OF LECTURER 

Prof. Samuel Adjei-Nsiah is a Professor of Agronomy at the Forest and Horticultural Crops Research Centre of the School of Agriculture, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana. He is a trained Agronomist with a PhD in Production Ecology and Resource Conservation from Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Prof Adjei-Nsiah has several years of experience in integrated soil fertility management in smallholder farming systems

 in Ghana and has worked on tropical legumes, including cowpea, groundnut and soybean and has rich experience in nitrogen fixation in grain legumes. His present research area includes smallholder agricultural development, focusing on facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration for sustainable intensification of grain legume production for enhanced food and nutrition security. He has coordinated several donor-funded research projects, the recent ones being the BM Gates Foundation-funded Global Yield Gap Atlas and N2Africa projects, the EU-funded Governing Multifunctional Landscape project and the NORAD-funded Sustainable Soybean Production in Northern Ghana Project.