The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has urged journalists and producers of radio and TV programmes to prioritise public education on climate change and agroecology issues in their programming.
The concern is that climate change is having devastating effects on humanity yet, public education on this challenge is very minimal.
The concern was raised at a workshop organized by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD), in collaboration with the Media Foundation for West Africa and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 in Accra.
The objective of the meeting was to equip national stakeholders, including media editors with relevant information on strategies adopted to address agroecology and climate change issues.
According to the United Nations, Climate change is due to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity. The UN says while the sun has played a role in past climate changes, the evidence shows the current warming cannot be explained as being caused by the sun. Five key greenhouse gases are being pointed to as possible causes. They are; carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapor.
Agriculture is one of the sectors affected by climate change. This has necessitated the adoption of agroecology, the application of ecological concepts in farming, to ensure the best outcomes. Agroecology is said to promote regeneration, communal ownership of resources and use of local inputs.
However, efforts in this regard, do not seem to have attracted the attention of media practitioners enough, hence the workshop.
Addressing participants, the Director of Research and Advocacy at Media Foundation for West Africa, Dr Kojo Impraim called on journalists and media owners to lead sustained discussions on the effects of climate change and the need to adopt agroecology practices.
“The conventional chemical-based agricultural production is no more sustainable and leaves so much negative environmental footprints. Various actors have therefore come up with solutions to the current climate crisis with many African countries opting to push for adaptation through increased industry focused agriculture initiatives” Dr Impraim said.
He emphasized that, “This form of agriculture releases carbon stored in the soil while increasing the burden of GHGs in the atmosphere polluting precious water resources.”
Dr Impraim explained that the agroecology approach, “seeks to reverse the negative effects on the environment, restore vegetative and tree cover (re-greening), maintain soil fertility, and help small-scale farmers adapt to climate change, thereby enhancing biodiversity.”
He therefore charged participants to help in the advocacy efforts. Some of the participants suggested that Media Foundation for West Africa and its partners should engage media owners to get their buy-in into the advocacy campaign.
Addressing the participants, Mr. William Laate of CIKOD said his outfit has been collaborating with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) to promote agroecology and advocate for food sovereignty in Africa since 2020.
“CIKOD, its partners and allies seek to actively promote a different, more effective multi-functional approach to agricultural development.
This approach maintains soil fertility, helps small scale farmers adapt to climate change thus enhancing biodiversity. This approach enables small scale farmers to make a transition to more sustainable, resilient and intensive ways of farming,” he explained.
Background
Ghana is already experiencing climate change. It is already negatively impacting many famers. The extreme climate variability i.e. droughts and periods of intense rainfall are likely to increase. It is in this context that two critical questions arise: (1) how to strengthen the resilience of agriculture in the face of climate change and (2) how to reduce the contribution of agriculture to the emission of GHGs.