The Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS) has scored the opposition NDC’s manifesto 71 per cent on policies to combat climate change if the party wins power in December election.

Researchers and food security analysts at the centre found five promises in the manifesto that would specifically address climate change under five different themes.

The Centre finds it highly commendable, that, there is a deliberate effort in the party’s vision, to combat climate change in the context of the global efforts.

The five promises identified in the manifesto include;

a. Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation on point (pages 57, point g) reintroduce ZOIL to involve the youth in planting coconut for coastal protection against climate change and job creation.

b. Land and Natural Resources (page 58, point) create a Youth in Climate Change and Afforestation Programme (YiCCAP) in partnership with the private sector for afforestation and job creation.

c. Water and Sanitation (page 93, point a) develop Ghana’s water & sanitation sector to improve all citizens’ health, optimise agricultural and industrial production to create employment, and build national climate change resilience.

d. Local Governance and Decentralisation (page 113, point k) establish a Waste Management Fund by amending the Customs and Excise (Duties and Other Taxes) (Amendment) Act, 2013 (Act 863), to garner the resources needed to address waste management and create green jobs as part of our response to the global climate change Agenda.

e. International Relations and Foreign Affairs (Page 123, point p)

p. increase collaboration within the United Nations, the Commonwealth, and other multilateral organisations to fight existing and emerging threats to global peace, security, and sustainable development including climate change and global warming, international terrorism, cybercrime, piracy, money laundering, narcotics trade, human trafficking and pandemics.

The centre also scores the party’s manifesto 66 % on food security and agriculture.

The expression ‘food security’, appears only twice in the manifesto and were loosely used as a generic term.

Under Agriculture and Agribusiness, subheading 6.11.1, the manifesto states “The food security, cash and industrial crops development as envisaged by the national Food and Agricultural Sector Development Policy (FASDEP) will remain the defining framework for the development of the crops and livestock sectors in the short to medium term”.

Similarly, under the same subheading, it is stated “The cereals, legumes and starchy staples contribute significantly to our national GDP and food security”.

It is commendable that a broad framework has been designed to achieve food security. While the second statement is a reinforcing statement and so not a promise, CCCFS considers the first statement though intermingled with other objectives, a specific food security promise and shall assess it.

The programmes to achieve the promise per the NDC manifesto, are reproduced here –

“Hence, all policy, programme and project objectives and activities will be targeted at increasing and sustaining the production and productivity of the various crops as follows:

a. cereal crops: maize, rice, sorghum and millet

b. starchy staples: yam, plantain, cassava, sweet potato and cocoyam

c. legumes: soya bean, groundnuts, beans

d. vegetables: tomato, pepper, okro

e. work with stakeholders to develop reliable markets for primary agricultural produce”