The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR) launched a Striga control campaign in Ghana’s Upper East Region, urging journalists to amplify awareness to combat the parasitic weed threatening food security.
Campaign Objectives and Strategies
The campaign, themed Healthy Soils, Living Trees, Smart Practices Starve Striga – Regreen to Reclaim,
focuses on Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), legume rotation, and soil fertility practices to combat Striga, a parasitic weed that drains water and nutrients from crops like sorghum and millet.
FONAR’s Executive Director, Mr. Sumaila Saaka, emphasized that Striga thrives in degraded soils and stressed the need for community-wide strategies. Lasting Striga control comes from combining several compatible practices consistently, season after season, across whole communities rather than single fields,
he said. The campaign also includes radio broadcasts, school materials, and field visits to educate farmers, with support from the Trans-Sahara WEFE Nexus Agroforestry initiative.
Media’s Role in Awareness
Journalists are being urged to intensify coverage of Striga’s threat, with Mr. Saaka highlighting their potential to reach farming households that no extension officer or field visit ever will.
At a sensitization forum organized by FONAR and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), he described Striga as a silent driver of hunger in Northern Ghana,
calling for sustained media attention beyond crises like floods or food price surges. The Upper East Regional Chairman of the GJA, Mr. Albert Sore, echoed this, stating that consistent reporting could shape policies and spotlight farmer experiences.
The GNA report noted that Striga infestations have worsened due to declining soil fertility, climate variability, and the weed’s prolific seed production. Mr. Saaka warned that unaddressed, the issue could affect thousands of hectares in the Upper East and Upper West regions. He also urged the media to hold institutions accountable for interventions, saying, A single well-researched broadcast can reach many farming households that no extension officer or field visit ever will.
Challenges and Community Response
Striga’s persistence is compounded by factors like continuous cereal cultivation and the unintentional spread of seeds through farm tools and water runoff. The Nabdam District Crop Officer, Adams Musah, confirmed the weed’s severe impact, stating, Striga is a serious parasite that has affected crop yield in the Nabdam District, and we are grateful for this partnership with FONAR for this campaign.
Farmers in the region face not only yield losses but also long-term soil degradation, which the campaign aims to address through sustainable practices.
Mr. Saaka described Striga as a signal that our soils are tired, and a signal that our attention as a society has, for too long, been elsewhere.
The campaign’s three-year goals include a reduction in Striga emergence and a decrease in yield losses on participating farms. Local leaders are also pushing for Striga management to be integrated into district agricultural plans, with the Trans-Sahara WEFE initiative piloted in Tindongo.
The success of the campaign hinges on both grassroots adoption and media outreach. Journalists, as highlighted by GNA, will play a pivotal role in maintaining public pressure and ensuring policies reflect on-the-ground realities. Meanwhile, the partnership between FONAR, MoFA, and international donors like Awaken Trees Association underscores the effort to tackle a problem that threatens food security.