Report of the regional workshop on sustainable intensification of mixed croplivestock farming systems in Northern Ghana, Tamale, Ghana, 27‐28 August 2012

Abstract

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Animal Research Institute (ARI) convened a 2‐day Inter‐Regional Workshop on Sustainable intensification of mixed croplivestock farming systems in the three northern‐most regions Ghana, namely Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions. The Workshop was held in the context of the implementation of a wider Project “Sustainable intensification of cereal – based farming systems in the Sudano‐Sahelian zone of Ghana” funded within the RISING initiative by the USAID. The Workshop, focusing on crop‐livestock systems within a broader agriculturelivestock integrated system in the region, attracted value chain actors in the livestock, crops and their integrated sectors. These included experts in production, health, processing and marketing in public and private sectors. Researchers, extensionists and technicians from national institutions and regional/international centres as well as non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) participated in the workshop. The Workshop was to bring together these experts to provide inputs into the determination of the path that the development of crop‐livestock systems has taken in the three regions, the status quo of enterprises in the crop‐livestock domains, what challenges are facing the sector’s value chains that may constrain the further development and intensification, and what opportunities there are to exploit to hasten development. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), a key stakeholder in livestock and closely related sub‐sectors in developing countries, especially in Africa, having been contracted by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the USAID contractor for the RISING Project, contracted and partnered with CSIR‐ARI to execute the eventual crop‐livestock component of the Project in Northern Ghana. Forty four (44) persons participated in the ”Analysis of constraints and opportunities for the sustainable intensification of mixed crop livestock systems in Northern Ghana” Workshop held in Tamale, Ghana, on 27‐28 August, 2012. Participants represented ILRI, the CSIR‐ARI, Universities, development/extension institutions, including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture ( MoFA), NGOs, and private services providers and farmers’ groups.