| Policy & Legislative support for UPA |
There is currently no specific policy support for UPA. This makes the practice unplanned and unorganised. |
Education & public awareness on urban agriculture;
urban food safety towards positive perception of UPA |
Some agricultural practices in and around have generated negative perceptions about UPA. Highlighting the importance of food safety on production, handling, storage and processing will contribute to reducing health risks associated with UPA. |
| Capacity building for farmer associations |
Capacity building is required on various issues such as access to credit, access to appropriate farm inputs, record keeping and proper use of agro-chemicals
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| Land tenure & urban agriculture |
With lands within the urban areas diminishing, policy makers can facilitate access to land for farming e.g. through land allocation for farming on urban fringes, supporting agriculture on institutional land and demarcation/zoning of vacant spaces for specific forms of agriculture.
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| Promotion of UPA enterprises |
Promotion of non-traditional farming (such as, mushroom, grasscutter, snail, poultry, aquaculture, medicinal plants, bee keeping in the peri-urban), ornamental crops and space confined technologies28.02.07tion systems: e.g. for dairy farming, processing of dairy products, etc.
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| Development of collaborative UPA projects/programmes among key stakeholders |
Urban agriculture is multidisciplinary in nature and involves several stakeholders. Therefore approaching project implementation from the multi-stakeholder angle gives opportunity to all key stakeholders to bring their unique expertise to bear on the project. |
| Standards and quality assurance: Strategies to minimise health & environmental risks associated with UPA |
Addressing the health and environmental risks associated with UPA will help boost the confidence of the public in patronising UPA products. Currently, one key issue in this category is the use of marginal quality water for cultivation of vegetables. |
| Improvement in post- harvest handling (processing&marketing) of farm produce |
Post-harvest handling should be addressed holistically from farm to the table so as to be able to offer concrete solutions to various sources of contamination. |
| Gender mainstreaming |
Any intervention in UPA will affect men and women differently and will therefore be important to the policy maker to carefully assess the level of impact of interventions with that aim at reducing the weaknesses and increasing the strengths of the various gender groupings.
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| Monitoring & evaluation in UPA |
Information from monitoring and evaluation can be used for a variety of purposes including: informing policy, monitoring standards, introducing realistic standards, identifying correlates of performance in UPA enterprises, increasing public awareness and informing political debate.
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| Coordination |
With many stakeholders involved in agriculture within and around the cities, there’s the need for coordination to avoid duplicated efforts and ensure that limited resources are put to maximum use.
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| Networking & linkages |
Partnerships and linkages including networking among all stakeholders such as traditional rulers, land owners, educational institutions, governments, NGOs and the District Assemblies, are important to create synergies and develop an integrated approach to UPA. There’s the need for networking with organizations within and outside Ghana for the purposes of information support and funding.
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