Smallholder farmers constitute the largest workforce in the agriculture sector in Africa. In Ghana, the agriculture sector is overwhelmingly dominated by smallholders producing almost all the food crops being maize, cassava, rice, and cash crop like cocoa.

To be transformed and achieve high-quality results in production, Prof. Irene Egyir, the Dean of the School of Agriculture at the University of Ghana, Legon has urged smallholder farmers to be innovative, creative, and inventive.

She urged the farmers during the African Smallholder Farmers Summit 2022 with the theme: Transforming Africa Economy and Creating Jobs for Women Youth through Agriculture Innovation and Technology with the Focus on the Impact Climate Change has on Smallholder Farming at Legon, Accra.

Although smallholder farmers use the traditional methods for production, like farming with hoe and cutlass and planting their own seeds, a number of them are also into small commercial farming. Most of the cocoa beans produced by the smallholder farmers are for export giving them a notch in the international market, however, to transform their activities to achieve high production, they should be innovative and creative.

She extolled the smallholder farmers’ resilience in producing food to feed Ghana and Africa, yet could do more to save the continent from hunger strikes.

She assured the support of human resources by the educational institution to the development of the farmers to improve the sector.