3,800 Female farmers in Eastern Region receive free fertiliser
Yara Ghana Limited, a company which deals in fertiliser, has donated 3,800 bags of fertiliser to 3,800 female farmers in the Eastern Region.
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The gesture, which is under YARA's "Grow Ghana Initiative", is intended to assist female farmers in overcoming their difficulties and increase the production of food crops such as maize and okro, among others.
It is also to ensure sustainability of production, as well as profitability, to enable the female farmers to earn appreciable incomes to cater for themselves and their dependents.
Presenting the fertiliser to the female farmers at the end of a two-year programme of the initiative, which started in 2022, in Koforidua last Monday, the Country Manager of YARA Ghana, Theresah Randolph, said the company had committed $20 million to supply 18,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser free of charge to farmers in Ghana.
Mrs Randolph stated that the objective of the Grow Ghana Initiative was to increase productivity for smallholder farmers.
She said the donation was targeted at farmer groups who had been marginalised and focused on people whose livelihoods needed to be supported, such as women, youth in agriculture, as well as persons with disability (PWDs).
"Today, we are giving out 3,800 bags of fertiliser and each woman will get one bag after which additional bags will be given to them periodically," she stated.
According to the YARA Ghana Country Manager, in addition to the direct investment of $20 million in the production of fertiliser, indirect investment was felt by the YARA Ghana retailers and distributors who participated in the programme, which boosted their overall sales of fertiliser.
She said YARA and its partners, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), African Fertiliser Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), were able to create jobs for over 500 youths in different communities across the country.
The youth, Mrs Randolph said, were trained in the usage of Information Technology (IT) portals that were used for product traceability and information on fertiliser to support their interactions with the farmers.
She said that it also assisted retailers to have better support in production knowledge and improved customer service, adding that in all, a total of 111,609 smallholder farmers in the country benefited.
Needs
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of Crops, Yaw Frimpong, appreciated the role being played by YARA, saying the government alone could not provide the needs of farmers.
He said YARA had been supporting the ministry over the years and that the ministry would also continue to support the Grow Ghana Initiative.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for New Juaben South, Isaac Appaw-Gyasi, who represented the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, said YARA's initiative had brought a tremendous positive impact on food production, not only in the region but in the country as a whole.
The Eastern Regional Director of Agriculture, Hajia Abiba Yusif, said the survival of every economy in Sub-Saharan Africa depended on agriculture and that any initiative to promote agriculture was laudable.
Grow more food
The Gyaasehene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Nana Twumasi Dankwa, who represented the Omanhene, Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III, said it was good to support female farmers with fertilisers to enable them to grow more food to feed the nation.
A 46-year-old physically challenged maize farmer, Grace Odi, who was highly elated about the assistance given by YARA Ghana, said the fertiliser given to her would increase the production of maize she was cultivating.
Shedding tears of joy, another physically challenged farmer, Grace Otoo, 40, said the fertiliser had come at the right time and that she would not have been able to purchase it.
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