The northern part of Ghana is facing unreliable food supply. In particular, due to insufficient animal protein supply, the physical development of children is greatly delayed compared with children in the southern part of the country. The harsh climatic conditions in that region make rearing of conventional livestock very difficult.

Since 2010, we have been collaborating to domesticate the large rodent named grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus) as a new livestock species in Ghana. In 2014, we started to support the breeding of grasscutters in Upper West Region in the northern part of Ghana.

Since hunting wildlife is likely to adversely impact the ecological balance and involves the risk of zoonotic infection, we are promoting grasscutter domestication to secure safe animal protein for the local people.

This grasscutter project was sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), KAKENHI, JSPS Bilateral Joint Research Project and JST aXis Project. Also, we launched a new NGO, Grasscutter Initiative for Rural Transformation (GIfT) to continue the mission of the grasscutter project through the support of the Ajinomoto AIN program and Innovate UK. The second period of Ajinomoto AIN program was started in April 2021 as a three-year project. We are grateful for their continuous support.

As a result of our activities, the number of captive grasscutters in the target area has increased and farmers have started to get benefits by selling and consuming reared grasscutters. In addition, breeding facilities for improved breeding was set up at the Livestock and Poultry Research Centre of the University of Ghana.

Although activities were limited in 2020 and 2021 due to the global spread of COVID-19 and the inability to visit from Japan for the workshop, the efforts of the local staff made it possible to hold workshops and to visit farmers while taking precautions against the infection. In 2021 and 2022 we had hybrid workshops by connecting from Accra and Japan through online. In order to preserve the grasscutter meat for a long time and expand sales, canned products have begun to be commercialized, and we are well underway in developing the products, establishing a manufacturing site, and obtaining permits.

In Ghana, many young researchers got PhD and are active in the study of livestock production. Dr. Appiah-Kwarteng and Dr. Botchway contributed to this Newsletter. I would like to express heartfelt thanks to MoFA, farmers, project members, and supporting organizations for their tremendous contribution for such a long time to achieve successful results. I hope that there will be unprecedented progress in nutrition improvement and economic development in this region.