by Bismark | Jul 6, 2018 | Article
Farmers are an indispensable source of blessing to Ghana and the reason is not far-fetched. The role they play in national life is so important that one needs not stretch to appreciate the incredible role they play in our lives.
Indeed there is hardly any area of life today that is not influenced by the farmer in one way or the other. From the sleek suit of the office executive to the efficacious medicines that saves millions of precious souls; who otherwise would be lost to chilly death, there is very little the world can do without the farmer’s effort.
Despite this apparent significance of the farmer to the development of society however, there is a challenge that seems to have escaped the attention of the very society that is often the biggest beneficiary of the farmers output.
Education is serially hailed by all as the bedrock of any society but curiously, farmers who are so vital to the sustenance of our country are still largely uneducated and ill equipped.
The largest chunk of the Ghanaian farmer-population is found in hinterlands where access to education still remains a mirage to many. This situation means that many farmers are bereft of the knowledge and capacity to outpace their contemporaries from other spheres; a situation that has seen a significant drop in their output and influence in recent years.
Effect on productivity
Education improves people, ideas and literally lights up the world. Without it, everything is a notch more complicated and less effective.
The foregoing assertion is true in many ways as far as the output of farmers is concerned. Despite the backbreaking effort of farmer’s under some of the most unforgiving working conditions, productivity continues to dip because farmers are left to operate within the provisions of the often little knowledge they possess on new trends in the farming discipline.
This worrisome trajectory needs to be reversed-and urgently. To achieve and sustain the huge impact government has hinged on the much touted “Planting for Food and Jobs” a collective effort to boost the capacity of the farmer is crucial to mitigate the glaring effect of lack of farmer education on agric productivity; which has quite an enormous bearing on Ghana’s GDP.
There is no gainsaying that the sparse education available to our farmers has had adverse effect on the productivity of farmers who hitherto had not experienced the increasing dynamics which now characterises the sector.
Capacity building
To help bridge the gap between agric and other sectors, capacity building presents a more realistic approach to better equipping farmers.
Most of the farmers on whose shoulders the food basket of the nation rests are in the twilights of their careers and will not fancy the idea of a more formal education module that may require a lot of their time. Rather, occasionally structured capacity building forums will go quite some distance to improve the capacity of farmers to better appreciate where the future of agriculture is currently headed.
Capacity building efforts must be calculated rather than rushed; and must involve a lot of stakeholder engagement. This will guarantee positive results that will ultimately culminate in a general improvement in the ability of the farmer to rely on improved knowledge for better output.
Stakeholder support
The agric sector is one that has diversity like no other .Because of its links to nearly every vital sector; there are a lot of stakeholders who are directly affected by the progress or retrogression of the sector.
This apparent interest from a wide range of stakeholders means support for an important task like farmer education and capacity improvement should never be far-fetched. If the entities who directly benefit from the farmers efforts are foresightedly enough to put in place measures that will ultimately see to an improvement in farmers then, we may well be on our way to improving our agric sector for the collective benefit of all.
To the many aric-industry firms, the resounding message is: It is never enough to simply clink the wine glass in toast to an avalanche of profit –the true test of success is measurable by the impact made in the life of the farmer through an effort like farmer-capacity building; which in any case is bound to ricochet off with bountiful returns.
New breed of farmers
Refreshingly, the narrative of farmer education is not one of total gloom. Indeed there is a new crop of modern, sophisticated farmers who have ventured into an area previously dreaded by young professionals.
The interesting bit about the new breed of farmers currently making inroads in the Ghanaian agric scene is that this lot are quite educated- sometimes up to tertiary level. This makes this group receptive to modern farming techniques and ideas.
Additionally these farmers are adept at being innovative enough to try new things while shedding unhelpful practices along the way.
Thy represent the beautiful future of farming and thankfully their efforts continue to received commendable support from development partners and entities like Kosmos Energy Ghana who are giving young farmers quite a lift with their ‘Cosmos innovation Centre’ concept.
Conclusion
Agriculture is and looks poised to remain the bedrock of the Ghanaian economy-at least for the foreseeable future. This means that it’s most important resource -which is her personnel, must be protected, improved and better positioned to continually make impact. Failure at this will be catastrophic; so catastrophic that famine may replace politics as the most talked about theme in the vibrant local media scene.
Improving the capacity of farmers through sensitisation workshops and similar initiatives will go a long way to help our farmers –many of whom are illiterates by no fault of theirs. For the emerging breed of farmers who are blessed to have education also, we must strive to provide avenues that will ensure that they never stagnate in knowledge acquisition. Rather, they must be aided to rise and rise; to help Ghana climb high the ladder of global agricultural significance.
by Bismark | Jul 6, 2018 | Press Release
The success of agriculture is often attributed to the efforts of government’s policies and other interventions which are intermittently rolled-out.
In Ghana, history is strewn with numerous interventions that have at one stage or the other been considered potent enough to help propel the agric sector’s growth. In keeping with this trend, the current administration has initiated the much publicized ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ which appears to be yielding positive fruits since its inception.
While the government’s role is too crucial to be missed by anyone taking the slightest peek at the agric sector, the contribution of other stakeholders particularly, corporate Ghana is colossal to say the least.
Indigenous Ghanaian companies and others with foreign roots have through various interventions, made significant contributions that have both complemented governments effort and improved the lot of agric in the country.
One of such shining examples is Kosmos Energy Ghana. The oil and gas giant has through its ‘Kosmos Innovation Centre’ initiative given a new lease of life to agriculture. Having conceived the idea as a means of contributing to the growth of society, the company has since 2016, nurtured and funded the establishment of several enterprises, while several other start-ups have benefitted greatly from the ‘Kosmos Incubation Programme’.
Business booster module
The business booster module was birthed in 2017 to aid the growth of innovative SMEs and help propel such enterprises to greater heights. The module was designed to engage indigenous agricultural enterprises that had been in business for no less than three years.
The programme involves mentoring support, a boot camp and an exposure to other seasoned businesses that have the capacity and willingness to lend a hand of support in the form of funding and expert advice. Having initially selected nine businesses out of a pool of 170 applicants, the beneficiary set-ups were taken through a one-on-one capacity building period that helped beneficiaries appreciate the need to identify and surmount challenges in the business sphere.
Following a liberal feedback of positive words on the impact of the programme, the maiden edition came to an end in April 2018, with a promise to start another session soon.
Beneficiary businesses who participated in Business Booster module included:
- Tilly farm-produces and processes pork and related products for a wide variety of clients across the country
- Solution Oasis-produces and markets quality natural skin-care products for the Ghanaian beauty and cosmetic market
- Contrapac-extracts natural virgin oil from tropical vegetable oils
- GEES Fresh Point-guinea fowl processing company
- Moringa connect –processes moringa leaves into delicious beverages
- Moringa king- beverage processing and marketing entity
- Meannan Foods-produces and packages food
- Seidag- supplier of beef products
The Kosmos Innovation Centre has a commitment to innovative agriculture and has demonstrated this by mentoring and supporting business that have been built to provide simple, yet innovative solutions for the local agric sector. The company believes that the future of agriculture is technology and has therefore taken a keen interest in young start-ups that believe in the potential of using technology to rapidly advance agriculture. Consequently the company has extended generous support to agric-inclined businesses like Agrocentre,Agroseal, Rent -a –Farm, Trotro Tractor etc.
Among the milestones achieved by the Kosmos Innovation Centre is the successful funding and mentorship of inspiring indigenous businesses who went on to win AgriTech Challenge in 2016 and 2017.Refreshingly ,these companies are now budding entities that are making inroads in the Ghanaian business space.
Mr. Joe Mensah (3rd left), Vice President and Country Manager of Kosmos Energy Ghana, presenting the cheque to Ms. Alberta Nana Akyaa Akorsa (2nd left), Executive Director of Agrichouse Foundation. Applauding are Mrs Davida Lamptey (left), HR Business Partner and Mr George Sarpong (4th left), Director, Corporate Affairs, Kosmos Energy Ghana. Picture: Maxwell Ocloo.
Mr Joe Mensah (3rd left), Vice President and Country Manager of Kosmos Energy Ghana, presenting the cheque to Ms Alberta Nana Akyaa Akorsa (2nd left), Executive Director of Agrichouse Foundation. Also in the photograph are Mrs Davida Lamptey (left), HR Business Partner, Mr George Sarpong (4th left), Director, Corporate Affairs and Ms Ruth Adashie, Communications Manager, Kosmos Energy Ghana. Picture: Maxwell Ocloo
Profile of some KIC beneficiary businesses
Ghalani
Ghalani is business enterprise that comprises a farm and supply chain management services. With innovative farm management software that aids agriculture aggregators who are always challenged by the need to engage numerous farmers at the same time, the service easily guarantees productivity and mitigate risk .Currently, the firm is in advanced interactions with the German Development Agency to partner their efforts to achieve its core mandate of optimum farmer performance.
AgroInnova
AgroInnova is a web-based management system designed to help poultry enterprises record and keep tabs on operations to ensure optimum performance and guarantee productivity. The company’s chief product ‘AKOKOTAKRA’ is gaining increased prominence among poultry farmers who claim that the software’s ability to provide accurate and real-time information enhances their operations significantly.
With an egg distribution system that is set to connect distributors to retailers, the company appears to be inching closer to becoming an indispensable service provider for the countries teeming poultry farming community.
Trotro Tractor Limited
This excitingly innovative business has developed an electronic platform that uses mobile phone and GPS to connect farmers to tractor operators- two essential agric partners who hitherto had challenges accessing each other .The service has come as a relieve to both parties as it allows request placement, appointment scheduling and pay –before-service tractor operations.
Having received commendation and reviews from several quarters for its business direction, the company has recently been considered by the Alliance for a New Revolution in Africa (AGRA) under the financial inclusion for Small-holder farmers in Africa project (FISFAR), to help roll out the small-holder agricultural mechanization in the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper west regions of Ghana.
Despite only recently being established, Totro Tractor has engage about 17,000 farmers with 3,700 of that number actively benefiting from the service of 300 tractor operators who are signed on to the service.
Anitrack
Another innovative venture from the stables of KIC, this business is weaved around the use of RFID technology to assess the wellbeing or otherwise of individual livestock. Also, a second aspect of the company’s service known as Animartt is designed to bring sellers and buyers of livestock to a single and secure online trading platform for the purposes of transacting business seamlessly.
The company has received positive reviews since preliminary trials began and industry observers are full of expectation for the company’s potential to become a solid partner for livestock farmers in the country.
Complete Farmer
Built with the mandate to provide farmers with real-time update on happenings in and around their farms, complete farmer enjoys the funding of Premium Bank Ghana.
With an effectual surveillance update on farms, the services provided by this firm have been touted by many as a huge incentive for white collar employees in other sectors who have a desire to engage in some agric venture side-by-side their full time engagement.
QualiTrace
This business relies on a mobile validation mechanism to help farmers and consumers identity genuine farm inputs and quality food produce, thereby shutting the door on fake and substandard products.
Through this quality control system, the loss of 1.5 trillion USD usually recorded as a result of the proliferation of fake agricultural input is slowly but surely inching close to becoming a thing of the past. The company has recorded significant successes since its inception by recording 523 successful certification of field-work in collaboration with farmers and retailers. The company is also said to be in talks with sustainable partners including the Westerwelle Foundation and the Suhum Farmers Association. A recent grant of $5000 from the Tony Enemelu Foundation is both a testament of the company’s attractiveness and relevance.
Conclusion
Indeed the responsibility to make our agric sector great is a collective one that should be shared by government and thriving firms in the country. The monumental significance of agriculture and the chief role it plays in keeping our economy alight and alive means every effort geared towards improving agriculture must be a concern for all–and-sundry.
The local economy is akin to a boat with the government and private sector players aboard –it is the collective responsibility of both to pedal this boat towards prosperity-and agric presents a huge opportunity to massively pedal a ‘boat’ that is bound to generously reward government and private sector alike should both show commensurate commitment through deepened support for agriculture.
