The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has called for a paradigm shift from commercial monoculture agriculture to sustainable organic farming to protect human health and the planet.
He said monoculture agriculture \u2013 growing only one type of a crop at one time on a specific field \u2013 also came with the heavy use of poisonous agrochemicals in food production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the fifth World Organic Forum in Kirchberg\/Jagst in Frankfurt, Germany, last Thursday, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin said conventional farming could not continue to produce and prepare food in the old ways and expect to feed and sustain populations on methods that had serious deleterious effects on the environment, human health and the entire ecosystem over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He, therefore, urged multinational agribusinesses not to place importance on profit margins ahead of protecting human health and nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDiseases that medical science thought it had overcome are today coming back and we must eliminate the use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, veterinary drugs, genetically modified seeds and breeds, preservatives and additives in the food value chain to curb diseases and preventable disasters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday, the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe which form the life support system are being threatened by a consistent spread of toxic chemicals in the soil from which our food grows and by reckless mining,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the end, it is poor indigenous people who consume such poisonous pesticide residue, especially in Africa,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Okyenhene raised similar concerns when he was accompanied by the Chairman of the Haus der Bauern Foundation, Rudolf Buhler, who is also the Founder of the Akademie Schloss Kirchberg, to visit the Farmers\u2019 Headquarters (Ecoland) and the Schwaebisch City Hall, both in Frankfurt, to gain deeper insight into organic farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was welcomed to Schwaebisch city in Frankfurt by the Mayor of the area, Daniel Bullinger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Okyenhene was accompanied by some of his sub-chiefs and lecturers from the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies at Bunso in the Eastern Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lies<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that today\u2019s consumeristic attitude and the maniac desire by multinational companies and individuals to grow the extra corn and increase shareholders\u2019 value and build huge corporate and personal profits had brought untold disasters and failures to humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his view, abundant food production, through industrial farming, to feed the growing world population had been largely propagated on what he called \u201cindustrial intensive agriculture\u201d that used heavy pesticides, weedicides and other harmful substances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The environmentalist said protagonists of commercial agriculture had, in the past, justified that those agrochemicals were not only vital for the future of agriculture but were also harmless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin refuted that claim, citing the renowned American marine biologist, writer and conservationist, Rachel Carson, whose influential book: \u2018Silent Spring\u2019, has been credited with advancing the global environmental movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCarson alerts the world that we are all being exposed to toxic pesticides throughout our lives \u2013 through residue left in the food we eat and the air we breathe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe wrote that every human being is contaminated with some poisonous chemical from conception till death, and that everything in nature is related to everything else,\u201d the Okyenhene quoted the author as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sacred heritage<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing a difference between farming practices today and the past, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin said before the advent of modern agriculture, African ancestors lived lives of leisure and peace, yet they did not share European ideas about land use and ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur ancestors\u2019 land was their sacred heritage beyond price. Because they had no desire to place the sources of their survival into streams of commerce, they were viewed as ignorant and primitive. Their value systems were based on relationship and not currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn spite of their perceived ignorance, they laid a deeper philosophical understanding of the need to respect and defend the rule of nature that says mankind is instructed to live in harmony with all species and not diminish or destroy them,\u201d the eminent traditional ruler said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of solution<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He reminded agribusiness globally to acknowledge that they were part of nature and they must, therefore, accept that the solution to all problems of humanity began with valuing and treasuring nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery now and then, nature has a way of reminding us that it is in charge: COVID-19, hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes and many more disasters show nature\u2019s force and serve as wake-up calls to action,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n