Mr Julius Debrah, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has said effective efforts to improve food security must jointly occur with efforts to improve nutrition security.

He said there was need to promote food safety, especially in light of the health challenges the country faced and continued to experience.

Mr Debrah said this in a speech, read on his behalf, at the second Knowledge Sharing Network (KSN) forum on Food Security and Environment Facility (FSEF) project, organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) with the Government of Canada, and other partners, in Tamale on Friday.

The FSEF, sponsored by the Canadian Government, is an eight-year project (2008 – 2016) being implemented by MLGRD, in the three regions of the north to contribute to the government’s efforts to achieve food security through environmentally sound agricultural development.

To achieve the goal of FSEF, a KSN forum has been established as a platform for sharing experience; to fill knowledge gaps amongst sub-projects of FSEF; and to promote dialogue amongst stakeholders, especially beneficiary actors.

The KSN forum, attended by representatives of MLGRD, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Regional Coordinating Councils in the three regions of the North, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), the Canadian Government and other stakeholders, showcased innovation in food production and preservation by seven sub projects.

Mr Debrah, therefore, called for improved considerations by MMDAs and strategic public-private partnerships to achieve the aim of ensuring that all households had not only adequate but safe food.

He said, “We have a mandate to safeguard and sustain the food security for our populations at large. This is clearly set out by the Millennium Development Goal on food security, which speaks to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.”

He, therefore, called on MMDAs to motivate their Departments of Agriculture to adapt best practices to improve on farm practices to increase yields.

Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, Northern Regional Minister, described the project as laudable as it sought to ensure sound environmental practices that promoted food security.

Alhaji Limuna urged the KSN forum to come out with innovations that would help improve agricultural productivity in the areas of food production and preservation in the country, especially in the three regions of the north.

The KSN forum is coordinated by MLGRD with support from MoFA, EPA, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Regional Coordinating Councils in the three regions of the north, MMDAs, the Canadian Government and other stakeholders.