Introduction: City context

Accra is the capital city of Ghana and covers an area of about 170 km² . The city lies within the coastal-savannah zone with low annual rainfall averaging 810 mm distributed over less than 80 days. The rainfall pattern of the town is bimodal with the major season falling between the months of March and June, and a minor rainy season around October. The mean temperatures vary from 24 ºC in August to 27 ºC in March. The Odaw River is the main river that flows through Accra. Accra’s main water supply is from the Weija Dam on Densu River with some water being pumped from the Akosombo dam in the Volta River.

Accra has an estimated population of about 1.66 million (Ghana Statistical Services, 2002). The population growth rate is estimated at 3.4 % per year, but this may go up to 10percent  in the peri-urban districts (Ghana Statistical Services, 2002; Drechsel et al., 2004). Accra has a very youthful population with 56% of the population being under the age of 24 years (for more information see:  http://www.ghanadistricts.com/region/?r=1&PHPSESSID=433c241c873506b6de18e998f10b9780 )
Accra is the most urbanised city in Ghana. The rapid increase in population is due to urban-biased development strategies adopted by policy makers since the colonial era. Most industry, manufacturing, commerce, business, culture, education, political and administrative functions are based in the conurbation Accra-Tema, attracting migrants, not only from the country but also from neighboring countries. This has contributed a great deal to urbanization of Accra. As a metropolitan area and coastal city, the predominant primary economic activity is marine fishing and urban agriculture.

Most important Urban agriculture types in Accra

There are two major categories of urban agriculture in Accra. Backyard gardening takes place in and around homes (estimated to bout 50-70ha distributed over 80,000 tiny backyards) see for instance FAO, 2001. Open-space farming in Accra is estimated to take place on about 680 ha are under maize, 47ha under vegetables (rain fed) and 251 ha under mixed cereal- vegetable systems. Of this, Irrigated vegetable production takes place on a 100 ha land area in the dry season. The estimated 1000 vegetable farmers, produce exotic vegetables, like lettuce, cabbage, spring onions, cucumber, green pepper and cauliflower, or the more traditional vegetables as tomatoes, okra, eggplant (aubergine) and hot pepper. Plot sizes range between 0.01-0.02 ha per farmer, and reach 20 ha in periurban areas.
Other components of urban and periurban agriculture in Accra are livestock, poultry, floriculture and mushroom. For an overview see the figure.

Urban Agriculture sites in Accra Metropolis

There are different tenure arrangements for the use of the urban open spaces. In general, no farmer owns the land that is cultivated and very few of them pay a fee. Most of the open spaces are belong to public or private institutions (Municipality, Electricity Company, Hospitals). Households farmers use treated pipe-borne water and grey water (water from bathrooms and kitchens) for irrigation, while most of the open-space farmers use water from drains, streams/rivers, and if available, pipe borne water and from hand-dug wells; peri-urban farmers rely mainly on rainfall and streams/rivers.

In spite of its benefits, such as employment and access to food in Accra, urban and periurban agriculture is faced with challenges, such as limited access to land and problem of insecurity (even when there is access); limited access to water resources; contamination of crops from poor quality water and improper use of pesticides; lack of an institutional framework; and the lack of farmer organisation to facilitate advocacy and lobbying.

Urban and periurban agriculture (related issues) in Accra currently fall under the jurisdiction of different levels and types of authorities (e.g. Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Town and Country Planning, Forestry, Parks and Gardens, Public health department, Urban planning, etc).

Although there is no specific policy on urban agriculture, smallholder agriculture development is highlighted almost in all major policies, programs and projects such as Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, Modernization of the Capital City and Decentralisation Policy. This has not yet enhanced the development of urban and periurban agriculture but there are opportunities for better integration of it in the overall city development policies and programs and this is being explored (as part of the RUAF pilot project).

Multi Stakeholder Action Planning and Policy Making in Accra

The Multi-stakeholder Policy formulation and Action Planning (MPAP) approach is well adapted to the decentralisation and multi-stakeholder processes in local governance in Ghana (Larbi, 2007). The MPAP process in Accra, under the RUAF–CFF programme, is described below. More information can be found at: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAFII-CFF.htm

AWGUPA

Following the general MPAP process, the first step in the MPAP was to identify a group of key partners and organisations and create the needed local ownership, commitment and inclusive consensus. A multi-stakeholder group of eight institutions was formed to carry out an exploratory study on UPA. This group was later expanded at the multi-stakeholderforum organised by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly-Ministry of Food and Agriculture (AMA-MoFA) and IWMI-RUAF in 2005. See: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAF-CFF/RUAF-CFF-Accra-Multi-stakeholderForum.htm. With a present membership of fifteen institutions, the group is involved in the implementation of the agreed Action Plan, which consists of several activities aimed at promoting urban agriculture in Accra. One of the activities currently being implemented is the pilot project, described below.

Exploratory study

After the AWGUPA was trained in the MPAP process and related issues, the members were involved in the exploratory study in 2005. Four teams were formed, supported by IWMI, each focusing one of the following four components:

Land use mapping
This study showed that there are different kinds of vacant land spaces in Accra, such as institutional/public (such as schools, defense, and aviation); privately owned land; greenbelt (forest, protected areas); mixed use (residential, commercial etc) and residential areas. The full report can be read at: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAF-CFF/RUAF-CFF-Accra-ExploratoryStudy.htm#Inventory%20on%20UA

Inventory on urban agriculture
Various forms of urban agriculture in Accra were found, including:  crop production, such as floriculture and vegetable production, which takes place in backyards and open spaces - non-crop systems include   poultry,   small   ruminants,   dairy   farming, aquaculture,   and   other   short-cycle species such   as mushroom and Grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus) a leading source of bush meatin the guinea savanna). It was estimated in this study that about 1000 farmers were involved in rainfed and irrigated urban agriculture. More information and an overview table of the urban farming systems can be found at http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAF-CFF/RUAF-CFF-Accra-ExploratoryStudy.htm#Inventory%20on%20UA

Stakeholders

The analysis of key stakeholders and their potential roles in influencing the development of urban agriculture in Accra have been presented in the report. Different categories of stakeholders were identified, some of them with a significant role in facilitation, networking and policy advice, the government departments in particular are important for action planning and policy formulation.

Policy review and analysis

Currently there is no specific policy support for urban agriculture, nor is it supported and facilitated in current legislation, which hinders further development (see Obirih-Opareh, and. Otchere Larbi, 2006) or read the full report.

The exploratory survey results were discussed by AWGUPA members, and based on this information and findings, a Strategic Action Plan for further development of Urban Agriculture in Accra has been developed.

Under the Strategic Action Plan, as developed by the Accra team, it has defined policy issues and strategies to consider specific areas: like policy and legislative support for urban agriculture, education and public awareness, and urban food safety towards a more positive perception of urban agriculture; the need for capacity building for urban farmer associations; land tenure and enterprise development; quality assurance and safety; and post harvest handling and marketing.

Pilot Project

The RUAF-CFF supported pilot project that AWGUPA is currently implementing is:  “Promoting Public Education and Policy Support for Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Accra”. The project seeks to improve public awareness and perception of urban agriculture to further enhance its development. The pilot project is coordinated by Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The individual institutions have as well defined actions they intend implementing to institutionalise urban agriculture.

Results

In Accra a functional 15-member multi-stakeholder team, the Accra Working Group on Urban and Peri-uirban Agriculture (AWGUPA) has been established for Accra. The team receives official recognition from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the two key political and policy institutions. To ensure that the MPAP process is sustained, IWMI/RUAF continues working with the various stakeholders towards mainstreaming the process. Progress of institutionalisation of the process is monitored through outcome journals and capacity gaps are addressed in capacity building events (Larbi, 2007).

A major outcome of the process is that urban agriculture has gained in importance in Accra. For instance, in the past the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not explicitly deal with it, since it is not in their mandate, but now EPA has taken up issues of urban agriculture as defined in RUAF-CFF programme. The national Ministry of Food and Agriculture reviewed the overall policy document, Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP), and is now expecting its urban departments (Metro, districts and municipalities) to deal with urban agriculture. 

Also explicit attention to urban agriculture has been included into the Ministry of Food and Agriculture specific Agriculture Colleges curricula as a sub-course under “current issues in agriculture”.  A step also into this direction is the fact that in 2006, for the first time, an Award was given to the best National Urban and Peri-Urban Farmer by the Deputy Minister MoFA for Crops Hon. Clement Eledi during the Policy Seminar on UPA held in Dec 2005. Awareness has been created in Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA). EnterpriseWorks Ghana, an NGO involved in AWGUPA has increased its attention to urban agriculture since being involved in RUAF-CFF. And through participation of farmers in the training, urban agriculture has also been taken up as an issue by the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union. 

Challenges encountered in the MPAP process so far include full participation by the AWGUPA members, mainly due to communication problems (like limited access and use of ICT) and lack of success in sourcing additional funds for the many activities seen as important in the Accra Action Plan on urban agriculture. In addition there is a need for more sharing and exchange of experiences across the RUAF regions and cities with regards to good practices.  Appropriate monitoring and evaluation and subsequent action taken would have to address this.

Linkages to regional websites, key documents, photos, maps etc

For more information on the RUAF-Cities Farming for the Future Programme in the region, contact the regional coordinator at RUAF West-Africa (Anglophone) or see their website.

Click here to return to the worldmap.