Education
Beyond yields: Ghana’s bold bid to value biodiversity in farming – EnviroNews
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Even though agriculture is the backbone of Ghana’s economy, feeding families, sustaining rural livelihoods, creating jobs, and driving exports, the sector is under strain. Biodiversity is disappearing, land is degrading, ecosystems are declining, and climate pressures are mounting up threatening the very systems that keep food on the table.
For years, policy has focused on yields and productivity. Yet global evidence shows that these narrow economic measures miss the bigger story, which is the hidden environmental, social, and health costs of farming. As a result, the natural services such as pollination, fertile soils, clean water, and biodiversity that make agriculture possible, are consistently undervalued and overlooked when decisions are made.
To tackle this situation, “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood) Evaluation Framework” has been developed to support more integrated and evidence-based policy making. Initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Framework offers countries a chance to rethink agriculture not just as an economic engine, but as a system deeply tied to people, nature, and long-term resilience.
Ghana has now officially launched the application of the TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework for the country, signaling a bold step toward reshaping the way agriculture and food systems are valued.
The national launch and inception workshop on Wednesday July 1, 2026, in Accra, assembled diverse stakeholders from government ministries and agencies, scientific research institutions, civil society, producer groups and the private sector, commencing a national dialogue on integrating biodiversity and ecosystem values into agricultural decision-making.
It marked the start of a stakeholder engagement process designed to move beyond conventional measures of productivity. By embracing the TEEBAgriFood approach, participants explored how to account for the often overlooked environmental, social, and human dimensions of agri-food systems. Discussions underscored both Ghana’s progress in advancing sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation, and the persistent challenges of policy coherence, institutional coordination, and mainstreaming biodiversity values into national planning.
TEEBAgriFood Framework – a transformation tool
Launching the TEEBAgriFood Framework, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Environment Science and Technology (MEST), Kwamena Quaison was concerned that agriculture, which is a cornerstone of Ghana’s economy, is increasingly challenged by land degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change, and unsustainable practice.
Therefore, protecting biodiversity, which is what the TEEBAgriFood approach seeks to incorporate into farming, “is not a constraint to development, but rather a foundation for achieving food security, economic prosperity, and climate resilience,” he declared.
Mr. Quaison described the approach as one that provides an opportunity to boost Ghana’s efforts to enhance the visibility of nature’s values, making them measurable and actionable.
“It will further enable better-informed policy and investment decisions across the agriculture and environment sectors,” he added.
The Chief Director saw the inception workshop as a milestone in Ghana’s journey to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem values into national planning as well as a direct contribution to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly Targets 10 and 14, which call for sustainable agriculture and the integration of biodiversity into policies and national accounting.
Head of UNEP’s The Economics of Nature Unit and TEEB’s Coordinator, Dr. Salman Hussain,underscored the transformative potential of the framework. He explained that the approach is designed to make the hidden costs and benefits of food systems visible, shifting the focus from yield per hectare to value per hectare.
“True‑cost accounting is not an academic exercise,” Dr. Hussain emphasised, adding, “It is a tool for better fiscal policy, smarter public investment, and more resilient agricultural development.”
In his statement, the Director‑General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof. Paul Bosu, issued a stark warning: “If we intentionally lose our biodiversity, alter our water courses and harm the ecosystem that supports our lives, nature will eventually send us a bill, which is not negotiable.”
He stressed that Ghana could no longer afford to ignore these realities and called for a stronger science‑policy‑environment setup to ensure agriculture becomes truly smart.
General Discussion Highlights
During the open discussions, participants warned that farmlands around Accra were vanishing under real estate and commercial sprawl, eroding food security, biodiversity, and flood resilience. They admitted that while the TEEBAgric Food initiative may not halt urban growth, it can strengthen agrobiodiversity and livelihoods amid these pressures.
Weak enforcement of land-use laws was another recurring theme especially because District Assemblies often struggle to regulate development. Participants proposed stronger coordination among LUSPA, the Lands Commission, and local assemblies, and urged the Initiative’s Steering Committee to bring these institutions together.
On the issue of customary landownership, participants noted that Chiefs and traditional leaders wield significant influence over land allocation, often outside statutory planning. So, their active involvement was seen as critical to the success of any biodiversity-sensitive agricultural policies.
Participants also stressed the need to align the Framework with existing national strategies including the Forest and Wildlife Policy and the Landscape Restoration Strategy, while drawing lessons from past interventions.
They agreed that institutional silos remain a barrier, with agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, and finance treated separately despite their interdependence. Stronger collaboration was suggested with clarified responsibilities to anchor implementation.
What can Ghana expect?
Rolling out the TEEBAgriFood Framework could reshape Ghana’s agriculture in clear, practical ways. By investing in diverse, locally adapted crops and livestock, food security will be strengthened against climate shocks and volatile markets. Valuing ecosystem services in planning will build natural buffers, especially crucial in cocoa-growing regions, while true-cost data will help ministries redirect subsidies toward systems with stronger long-term returns.
The framework also reinforces Ghana’s biodiversity commitments, supporting cocoa production and diversified farming aligned with global sustainability targets. At the same time, robust evidence opens doors to innovative financing like green bonds, biodiversity credits, blended finance, and carbon markets, thereby mobilising new investment for transformation. And by linking procurement and value-chain policies to dietary diversity, Ghana can deliver better nutrition outcomes, particularly for women and children.
Together, these outcomes position agriculture not just as an economic driver, but as a resilient system that sustains people, protects nature, and secures the country’s future.
The Pre-launch Consultation
Weeks before the launch, UNEP convened a stakeholder consultation to gather perspectives and test ideas on the TEEBAgriFood Framework. The meeting revealed both optimism and caution. Participants pressed for clarity on whether the project would conduct cost‑benefit analysis, and UNEP confirmed it would use indicators such as return on investment, internal rate of return, and net present value to capture the full picture of interventions.
Civil society representatives insisted that job creation must be part of the equation. “If interventions don’t create jobs, policymakers won’t buy in,” one participant warned. Farmers and cooperatives recalled lessons from earlier cocoa agroforestry projects near Kakum National Park. While biodiversity and yields improved, inequitable benefit‑sharing left smallholders disillusioned. Larger actors in the cocoa value chain captured most of the rewards, discouraging long‑term participation.
The consultation also raised questions about valuing ecosystem services such as water quality, pollination, soil conservation, climate mitigation. UNEP confirmed it would apply internationally recognised methodologies, including the System for Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework and geospatial tools like InVEST. Above all, the meeting underscored the need for strong stakeholder engagement, equitable benefit sharing, and cross‑sectoral integration to avoid duplication and ensure policy relevance.
A previous African farming practice
Some food security advocates have welcomed TEEBAgriFood Framework as an old African traditional farming practice, repackaged to redefine agriculture by counting resilience, nutrition, and ecosystem health alongside productivity. So far, it has been implemented in 14 countries including Indonesia where agroforestry is now captured in the national development plan.
In India, it is now included into the undergraduate Natural Farming syllabus across 51 state universities, highlighting its educational importance. In Brazil, TEEBAgriFood’s advocacy for Urban and Periurban agriculture led to a presidential decree and a $3.2 million investment in these initiatives.
By Ama Kudom-Agyemang