Cities Farming for the Future (CFF) On-going Activities
Exploratory Study on Urban Agriculture (UA) in Accra An exploratory study on urban agriculture in the Accra metropolis undertaken by the MPAP team was completed and a 100 page report is available. The report contains four components:
Inventory on Urban Agriculture (UA) in Accra
Land use mapping
Review and analysis of the Policy and legislative framework on urban agriculture
Stakeholders review and analysis

Inventory on UA: The document reports on the characteristics of urban farms and farmers, types and systems of production, gender equity, factors that constraint or facilitate UA and linkages with other sectors, among others.

Land use mapping: A land use map elaborating the use categories, including farming and non-farming activities, typology of open spaces, open spaces in relation to UA, location of UA farms, etc. was developed.

Review of policies and legislative framework: various agricultural policies of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy document, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) by-laws on UA and public health, and other relevant documents were reviewed and analyzed. The major findings indicate no specific policies on UA in the country and that the AMA has restrictive by-laws on UA.

Stakeholder analysis: More than 30 stakeholders were identified and analyzed in terms of their mandates, interests, resources available, conflict areas, roles and contributions to the RUAF programme and common areas of interest and potential for collaboration.

A synthesis (about 40 pages) of the whole report was prepared from the study report and further revised through consultations.  This was discussed with the resource persons at the ToT. From the discussions, a 20 page narrative, outlining the main policy issues for intervention was prepared and served as basis for discussion at the multi-stakeholder forum.

Lessons learned/Challenges 

The exploratory study revealed the phenomenon of UA in the Accra Metropolis, especially in terms of UA in relation to urban planning and land use value. It has also provided some basis for planning, taking certain decisions and the policy directions that need to be pursued. There are no specific policies for UA, however, the by-laws and regulations of the Accra Metropolitan Area puts limitations to livestock production (obviously due to health and environmental concerns). This situation presents an apparent opposing position for RUAF and the city authorities. Strategies for implementing the RUAF CFF programme in Accra will therefore definitely have to be approached from a different perspective (more of awareness creation, lobbying, negotiations and capacity building).