NGO organises field day for farmers

The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) has organised a field day for farmers in Sambik, a community in the Chereponi District on the 'sesame' value chain project.

Mr Issahaku Zakaria, the Project Manager of SNV, said the project, which is fully funded by the SNV through the Netherlands government, was aimed at improving food security in rural communities.

He said it was also meant to empower women to improve productivity, processing and marketing of the sesame seed and its products.

Sesame is a crop that has a lot of nutritional benefits hence its cultivation and further processing by women for consumption.

Mr Zakaria said market linkages had been created for farmers and that the project was working closely with buyers who were now getting interested in the work of SNV.

He said Sesame seed cultivation had higher profitability for farmers as compared to other crops and it had also built their resilience to climate change as the crop was drought resistant.

The project is currently being implemented in Chereponi, Saboba and the West Mamprusi districts.

Mr Abdul-Halim Abubakari, a Senior Lecturer at the University for Development Studies (UDS), said sesame was one of the few agricultural commodities that lends itself easily to value addition and therefore had a huge potential for stimulating rural economic growth.

Hajia Mary Nakobu, the District Chief Executive of Chereponi, expressed gratitude to SNV for their contribution towards improving the lives of people in the communities.

She appealed to other stakeholders in agriculture to help in expanding the sesame value chain project to other districts to improve their standards of living.

Hajia Nakobu appealed to non-governmental organisations to assist the Chereponi District to address water, sanitation and hygiene problems to prevent cholera outbreak.

SNV Ghana promotes agriculture as a business and its key approach is to provide smart, market-based solutions through value chain and inclusive business developments in selected cash and staple food commodities.

These include non-timber forest products such as shea nuts and butter, baobab, honey, sesame seed, cocoa, food crops, and fruits and vegetables.