14,000 farmers benefit from AGRA-DANIDA project

A smallholder farmer in Jirapa

FOURTEEN-THOUSAND farmers in the Northern Region have so far benefited from an agricultural project initiated by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) with funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

The Agricultural Value Chain Mentorship Project (AVCMP) seeks to transform agriculture in the Northern Region through three main approaches: intensifying the adoption of integrated soil fertility management technologies, enhancing farmers' access to inputs and linking farmers to markets.
It is in line with a broader strategy to contribute to the government's objective of achieving food security and developing the region's agricultural sector into an agro-industrial economy.
The Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Nyankpala is implementing the soil fertility component of the project, whilst the International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) and Ghana Agricultural Associations for Business Information Centre (GAABIC) are implementing the two other components.

Quick Read

·       Soil scientists have noted that soils in the savannah area are weak in nutrients and this is worsened by environmental degradation.

·       The AVCMP is one of notable projects that are working towards improving soils in the north and strengthening the value chain system.

 

The AVCMP Productivity Coordinator, Mr Wilson Dogbe told a team of journalists who visited the project sites that the impact of the project had been phenomenal.
“Farmers who have so far benefitted from the project recorded a bumper harvest last year. Their yields increased by almost three times that of previous years,” he said.
Mr Dogbe said the 14,000 farmers were involved in various trainings on and off the field in soil preparations and the best crop management practices at learning centres in 16 districts of the region.
He said 123 demonstration farms had been established in the beneficiary districts to showcase the application of ISFM technologies and its immense benefits to soils and crop yields.

A member of the Tiyumba Farmers Association, Yakubu Mohammed confirmed that the use of improved soil fertility management practices, such as the use of organic compost, had led to improved yields.

“I applied what we were taught on my farm last year and I harvested more maize,” he said.

He also commended SARI for supporting them to secure tractor services and other inputs.

Agriculture in the north is largely rain-fed, causing production levels to vary according to weather conditions.
Smallholder farmers have very limited access to improved seeds, quality fertilizers and the credit to purchase them.

They also lack knowledge of proper crop and water management practices.

Often, farmers are unable to sell the crops they have grown because of post-harvest losses and a shortage of storage and processing facilities.
The AVCMP is therefore hoping to make some progress in tackling these challenges by the end of the project in 2014.
(Also published in the Daily Graphic, July 5, 2013, p. 23)