Moïse Sonou

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

In Africa, more than one-third of the population already lives in urban cities, and over the next 25 years, the rapid urbanisation of Africa could lead to increasing food insecurity in the cities. In Ghana, the urban population is growing at an estimated annual rate of 4.1% compared with the overall population growth of 3%. Among major urban problems are those related to unemployment and under-employment, as well as high food prices especially due to the high costs of marketing food products. The growing demand for fresh and perishable agricultural produce in the major cities is driving the development of peri-urban agriculture. This demand is not seasonal, necessitating year-round production, heavily dependent on irrigation.