Enhancing food security and poverty reduction in Ghana through non-timber forest products farming:
Case study of Sefwi Wiawso District

Emmanuel K. Boon
Human Ecology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Albert Ahenkan
Human Ecology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Table of Contents

Abstract ... 4

1. Introduction ... 5

2. Food Security and Poverty ... 6

2.1 What is Poverty? ... 6
2.2 OECD’s View on Poverty ... 6
2.3 Poverty Trends in the World ... 8

3. Poverty and Food Insecurity in Ghana ... 10

3.1 The Link between Poverty and the Environment ... 12

4. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) Farming ... 15

4.1 What are NTFPs? ... 15
4.2 NTFPs and Poverty Reduction ... 16
4.3 The Need for NTFPs Farming ... 17

5. Case Study of Sefwi Wiawso District in the Western Region of Ghana ... 18

5.1 The Study Location ... 18
5.2 Impacts of NTFPs Harvesting in Sefwi Wiawso District ... 19
5.3 NTFPs Farming in Ghana ... 20
5.4 Impacts of NTFPs Farming ... 21
    5.4.1 Empowerment and Income Effects ... 22
    5.4.2 Education and Health ... 22
    5.4.3 Food Security ... 23
    5.4.4 Environmental Benefits of NTFPs Farming ... 23

6. Challenges and Prospects of NTFPs Farming ... 24

6.1 Policy Vacuum ... 24
6.2 Inadequate Finance ... 24
6.3 Lack of Inputs and Farm Construction Materials ... 24
6.4 Lack of Awareness Creation ... 25
6.5 Limited Capacity Building Opportunities ... 25
6.6 Marketing Constraints ... 25

7. Recommendations for Enhancing the Development and Promotion of NTFPs ... 26

7.1 Formulation of a Visible National NTFPs Policy ... 26
    7.1.1 Prevention of Deforestation ... 26
    7.1.2 Sustainable Forest Management ... 27
7.2 Provision of Financial Support to NTFPs Farmers ... 27
7.3 Supply of Construction Materials ... 27
7.4 Need for an Effective Awareness Creation Programme on NTFPs ... 28
    7.4.1 Vigorous Environmental Education ... 28
7.5 Strengthening the Capacity of NTFPs Farmers and Relevant Stakeholders ... 28
    7.5.1 Establising NTFPs Demonstration Farms ... 28
    7.5.2 Provision of Technical and Extension Services ... 29
7.6 Facilitating Processing and Marketing of NTFPs ... 29

8. Conclusions ... 30

9. Bibliography ... 31

1. Introduction

Poverty eradication and food security have moved to the centre stage of the global development agenda. They are the greatest global challenges facing the world today. They are indispensable requirements for sustainable development, particularly for developing countries (WSSD, 2002).The world’s leaders pledged their commitment to eliminate hunger, malnutrition and to halt global poverty by 2015 at the World Food Summit in 1996 and the Millennium Summit in 2006 (WFS, 1996). At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in 2002, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to develop national and local programmes for sustainable development, poverty eradication and food security was agreed upon. Despite these commitments, the last decade has witness an increased poverty level, especially in developing and transition countries. (OECD, 2001).

Although the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing and transition countries fell slightly over the past decade from (42% to 28%), the numbers of poor people steadily increased in most regions except for East Asia (Boon, E.K, 2005). Ten years after the World Food Summit (WFS), the number of undernourished people in the world remains stubbornly high (FAO 2006). Worldwide, 854 million people still remain hungry and undernourished. 820 million of this figure is found in the developing countries (FAO, 2006; USDA, 2007). Today, extreme poverty ravages the lives of one in every four in the developing world (Boon, 2004). Of the estimated 20 per cent of the world’s population (i.e., 1.2 billion people) trapped in severe poverty with less than US$1 per day, 26 per cent are in sub-Saharan Africa (Sackey, 2005).

Clearly, poverty continues to be pervasive, intractable and inexcusable in the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (Boon E.K, 2004). Poverty and hunger are inseparable in developing countries and are the most common triggers for the downward slide in poverty. Poverty is a major cause of food insecurity and sustainable progress in poverty eradication is critical for improving access to food (FAO, 2006). A food paradox exists in contemporary world. Enough food is produced world-wide for satisfying every person. However, while poor health in developing countries is often linked to inadequate food and chronic disease in the rich industrialized countries it is tied to too much food.

2. Food Security and Poverty

Food security is a multi-faceted and flexible concept as is reflected by the many attempts at defining and interpreting it by different organizations and individuals (Maxwell et al, 1992). The most recent definition of food security is that negotiated in the process of international consultation leading to the World Food Summit (WFS) in November 1996 which defines food security as “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (WFS, 1996; FAO, 2002).

2.1 What is Poverty?

It is generally agreed that there is no universally accepted definition of poverty (Boon E.K, 2005). However, several attempts have been made by different authors and international institutions to find an “acceptable norm” for defining poverty. It is expressed in terms of the income that a household or individual would require to purchase goods and services deemed necessary to sustain his or her physical and social existence. The World Bank Development Report (1990) used $370 per person per year (or US$1 a day) as the absolute poverty line in developing countries and estimated that 1,116 billion people or 33 percent of the population in the developing world are poor (World Bank, 1990).

2.2 OECD’s View on Poverty

The OECD (2001) describes poverty as an unacceptable human deprivation in terms of economic opportunity, education, health and nutrition, lack of empowerment and security. In general, poverty is the inability of people to meet economic, social and other standards of well-being. It covers measures of absolute poverty such as child and infant mortality rates, and relative poverty as defined by the differing standards of each society. Figure 1 depicts a broader framework of the concept of poverty developed by the OECD. It includes all the most important areas in which people of either gender are deprived and perceived as incapacitated in different societies and local contexts. The framework encompasses the casual links between the core dimensions of poverty and the central importance of gender and environmentally sustainable development.

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