Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in Ghana
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Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in Ghana Characteristics, Benefits and Risk Mitigation Second Edition Edited by Pay Drechsel and Bernard Keraita Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in Ghana: Characteristics, Benefits and Risk Mitigation Edited by Pay Drechsel and Bernard Keraita Second Edition IWMI October 2014 Editors: Pay Drechsel (IWMI) and Bernard Keraita (University of Copenhagen) Contributing authors: Adriana Allen and Alexandre Apsan Frediani, University College London, UK; Andrea Silverman, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Andrew Adam- Bradford, Human Relief Foundation, UK; Bernard Keraita, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Emmanuel Obuobie, Water Research Institute, CSIR, Ghana; George Danso, University of Alberta, Canada; Gerald Forkuor, University of Wuerzburg, Germany; Gordana Kranjac-Berisavljevic, University for Development Studies, Ghana; Hanna Karg, University of Freiburg, Germany; Irene Egyir, University of Ghana, Ghana; Lesley Hope, University of Bochum, Germany; Liqa Raschid-Sally, Sri Lanka; Manuel Henseler, Switzerland; Marielle Dubbeling, RUAF Foundation, The Netherlands; Matthew Wood-Hill, University College London, UK; Olufunke O. Cofie, IWMI, Ghana; Pay Drechsel, IWMI, Sri Lanka; Philip Amoah, IWMI, Ghana; Razak Seidu, Ålesund University College, Norway; René van Veenhuizen, RUAF Foundation, The Netherlands; Robert C. Abaidoo, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Ghana; Sampson K. Agodzo, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Ghana; Senorpe Asem-Hiablie, The Pennsylvania State University, USA; and Theophilus O. Larbi, IFAD, Accra, Ghana Publication editor: Robin N. Leslie Suggested citation: Drechsel, P.; Keraita, B. (Eds.). 2014. Irrigated urban vegetable production in Ghana: characteristics, benefits and risk mitigation. 2nd ed. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 247 p. doi: 10.5337/2014.219. / irrigated farming / urban agriculture / suburban agriculture / vegetable growing / risk management / wastewater irrigation / cropping systems / food security / food supply / sanitation / water quality / irrigation water / water use / water policy / economic aspects / financing / households / income / marketing / gender / women farmers / land tenure / soil fertility / biological contamination / pesticide residues / helminths / heavy metals / faecal coliforms / environmental health / sustainability / public health / health hazards / malaria / stakeholders / Ghana / Cover photos: International Water Management Institute (IWMI) ISBN 978-92-9090-798-5 Copyright © 2014 by IWMI. All rights reserved. Download a free copy of this publication at: www.iwmi.org Printed by Printel Private Limited, Sri Lanka. ii CONTENTS Foreword to the Second Edition by Marielle Dubbeling vii Acknowledgements viii INTRODUCTION 1. Irrigated Vegetable Farming in Urban Ghana: A Farming System between Challenges and Resilience 1 1.1 The Urbanization Challenge 1.2 Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture and Food Security 1.3 Sanitation, Water Quality and Irrigation 1.4 Dynamics and Sustainability of the Urban Farming Phenomenon 1.5 Book Objectives and Structure by P. Drechsel, A. Adam-Bradford and L. Raschid-Sally PRACTICES, ACTORS AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS 2. Urban Vegetable Farming Sites, Crops and Cropping Practices 7 2.1 Key National Features 2.2 Irrigated Urban Agriculture in Ghana’s major cities 2.3 Farming Characteristics, Crops and Land Tenure by G. Danso, P. Drechsel, E. Obuobie, G. Forkuor and G. Kranjac-Berisavljevic 3. Characteristics of Urban Vegetable Farmers and Gender Issues 28 3.1 Profile of Urban Vegetable Farmers 3.2 Overview of Gender Issues in Urban Agriculture 3.3 Male Dominance in Urban Open-space Vegetable Farming 3.4 Female Dominance in Marketing of Urban Farm Produce 3.5 Conclusions by E. Obuobie and L. Hope 4. Financial and Economic Aspects of Urban Vegetable Farming 38 4.1 Financial Aspects of Irrigated Vegetable Farming 4.2 Socioeconomic Impact and Urban Food Supply 4.3 Possible Negative Externalities 4.4 Conclusions by G. Danso, L. Hope and P. Drechsel 5. Marketing Channels for Irrigated Exotic Vegetables 51 5.1 Background and Survey Details 5.2 Marketing Channels 5.3 Quantifying Food Flows 5.4 Customers and Consumers 5.5 Conclusions by M. Henseler and P. Amoah iii POSSIBLE HEALTH RISKS 6. Quality of Irrigation Water Used for Urban Vegetable Production 62 6.1 Urban Sanitation and Water Quality Linkages 6.2 Bacteriological Quality of Irrigation Water 6.3 Helminth Eggs 6.4 Virus Levels 6.5 Emerging Contaminants 6.6 Heavy Metals 6.7 Conclusions by B. Keraita, A. Silverman, P. Amoah and S. Asem-Hiablie 7. Irrigation and Soil Fertility Management Practices 74 7.1 Irrigation Systems in Ghana 7.2 Sources of Irrigation Water in Major Cities 7.3 Irrigation Methods Used in Urban Vegetable Farming 7.4 Productivity of Irrigated Urban Vegetable Systems 7.5 Options and Constraints to Technology Change 7.6 Soil Fertility Management Practices 7.7 Conclusions by B. Keraita and O.O. Cofie 8. Quality of Vegetables in Ghanaian Urban Farms and Markets 89 8.1 Bacterial Contamination 8.2 Helminth Eggs 8.3 Heavy Metals 8.4 Pesticide Residues 8.5 Estrogen Concentrations 8.6 Conclusions and Recommendations by P. Amoah, I. Lente, S. Asem-Hiablie and R.C. Abaidoo 9. Human Health Risks from Wastewater-irrigated Vegetable Farming 104 9.1 Risks from Wastewater Irrigation 9.2 Risks from Microbiological Contaminants 9.3 Risks from Heavy Metals 9.4 Risks from Pesticides and Emerging Contaminants 9.5 Conclusions by P. Drechsel, B. Keraita, R. Seidu and R.C. Abaidoo 10. Health Risk Perceptions of Stakeholders 116 10.1 The Importance of Stakeholder Perceptions 10.2 Perceptions of Vegetable Farmers 10.3 Perceptions of Vegetable Sellers 10.4 Perceptions of Vegetable Consumers 10.5 Perceptions of City Officials 10.6 Perceptions of the Government 10.7 Perceptions and Role of the Media 10.8 Conclusions by E. Obuobie, B. Keraita, L. Hope and S.K. Agodzo iv STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE SAFETY AND PRODUCTIVITY 11. Strengthening Urban Producer Organizations 136 11.1 Farmers Production and Organizational Development 11.2 Farmers‘ Indigenous Knowledge and Innovations 11.3 From Seed to Table (FStT) Program 11.4 Results and Outcomes 11.5 Lessons Learned and Conclusions by T.O. Larbi, O.O. Cofie, P. Amoah and R. Van Veenhuizen 12. Options for Local Financing in Urban Agriculture 145 12.1 Financing Urban Agriculture – An Overview 12.2 The Current Situation of Financial Institutions in Accra 12.3 Bottlenecks in Financing Urban Producers 12.4 Opportunities for Financing Urban Agriculture 12.5 Conclusion by I.S. Egyir, O.O. Cofie and M. Dubbeling 13. Land and Planning for Urban Agriculture in Accra: Sustained Urban Agriculture or Sustainable Urbanization? 161 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Farming in the Inner City: Contested Claims and Practices 13.3 Where Customary Agricultural Practices Meet Market-led Urbanization 13.4 Putting Unsuitable Land to Productive Use 13.5 Pathways for Change 13.6 Conclusions by A. Allen, A. Apsan Frediani and M. Wood-Hill 14. Health Risk Management for Safe Vegetable Irrigation 180 14.1 Health Risk Management in Wastewater Irrigation 14.2 Risk Management Strategies – An Overview 14.3 Options to Improve Urban Sanitation and Wastewater Treatment 14.4 Farm-based Risk Management Measures for Pathogens 14.5 Postharvest Risk Management Measures for Pathogens 14.6 Chemical Contaminants 14.7 Options to Support Uptake of Safe Practices 14.8 Conclusions by P. Drechsel, B. Keraita, P. Amoah and H. Karg 15. Governmental and Regulatory Aspects of Irrigated Urban Vegetable Farming in Ghana and Options for its Institutionalization 199 15.1 Informality of Irrigated Urban Farming 15.2 Agencies Relevant to Irrigated Urban Farming 15.3 A Review of Regulatory Bylaws, Policies and Development Plans 15.4 Institutionalizing Safe Vegetable Farming by P. Drechsel, E. Obuobie, A. Adam-Bradford and O.O. Cofie 16. References 219 Annex: DVD with films by DPU/UCL (UK) and IWMI on urban farming in Ghana v Ashanti brass art of the “farm to table” value chain (Photos: P. Drechsel) vi Foreword to the Second Edition Over the last 10 years, the International Water Management Institute’s research in Ghana has had a major thrust in urban agriculture in general and (wastewater) irrigated vegetable farming in particular. The first edition of this book was published in 2006 under the title Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in Ghana: Characteristics, Benefits and Risks – demand was high and it eventually ran out of print but the research resulted in many new studies that have improved our knowledge of the subject. This second edition has been completely revised and updated, with new chapters and about 90 more pages to give a comprehensive overview of urban and peri-urban vegetable farming in and around Ghana’s major cities. The book highlights not only the important contribution of urban vegetable production for farmers and society, but also possible risks and risk perceptions related to the use of polluted water sources. More importantly, the second edition transits from descriptive situational analysis towards definitive action. The book contains health risk assessments and outlines options for risk mitigation which were studied in Ghana in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Students and lecturers from more than ten universities contributed to this second edition which also includes a DVD that illustrates challenges to and opportunities