US$32m project boosts agric in 4 regions

A four-year agricultural intervention project estimated at US$32million has transformed agriculture in Brong Ahafo and the three northern regions, as over 30,000 beneficiary farmers and other actors under the project have been making giant strides in their areas of production.

The USAID-funded project -- implemented by an NGO, Ghana Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement Programme (ADVANCE) -- has created an avenue to make farmers more competitive by increasing the production of soya beans, rice and maize through the use of quality but subsidised inputs; mechanisation, easy access to market; and financial support.

The market-led project, which started in September 2009, has aggregators who liaise with identifiable buyers to know the needed quantity and quality of produce before farmers begin production, to avoid glut.

A component of the project bestows actors with periodic basic managerial training, book-keeping and modern agronomic tutorials among others. This and many mechanised practices have translated into significant and high-quality yields by farmers in the last three and a half years.

Between December 2012 and June 2013, nine maize aggregators sold 3,686.23 metric tonnes valued at GH¢435,432 from some 4,000 farmers in the Brong Ahafo Region. Regional Coordinator of ADVANCE, Emmanuel Mensah Gyarteng, described this as a remarkable achievement considering the fact that smallholder farmers are new to modern farming practices.

Mr. Gyarteng was speaking during a demonstration at Kyingakrom in the Kintampo South District, where about 150 farmers were introduced to scientific methods of cultivating maize. It has been established that maize is suitable for that area, but the majority of farmers in communities like New-Longolo, Ayowoya and Kyingakrom cultivate yam and groundnut as their principal crops -- hence the demonstration intended to commercialise maize farming there.

He revealed that 7,388 selected farmers within the northern belt of Brong Ahafo, covering Tain, Banda, Techiman, Sene, Pru, Kintampo North and South areas, are beneficiaries of the project.

“Since this intervention was rolled-out, aggregators have always been buying more; meaning that farmers’ production is also accelerating better than ever,” the Regional Coordinator said.

William Kakoo, a lead-farmer, told B&FT that the intervention has changed their fortunes in all aspects of their business. “We were harvesting average yields because modern agronomic practices were alien to us.

We were also battling with post-harvest loses while buyers were cheating us in purchasing our little output. ADVANCE and USAID have now rescued us from this huge mess,” he said.