Ghana’s agroecology debate is intensifying as calls grow for a nature-based food system

While acknowledging the important role international development partners play, he argued that Ghana must substantially increase domestic investment in agricultural research if it wishes to retain ownership of its long-term food strategy.

That debate came into sharp focus at the three-day CIRAWA Agroecology Conference in Accra, where government officials, researchers, farmers and international organisations gathered to discuss whether agroecology, rather than greater dependence on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and external agricultural inputs, offers Ghana a more sustainable future.

Among the conference's strongest voices was Agricultural Development and Food Systems Economist at the University for Development Studies, Professor Saa Dittoh, who questioned the growing emphasis on genetically modified crops in Ghana.