The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Omanbapa AgriTech Ltd, have signed a memorandum of understanding with Omanbapa AgriTech Ltd to establish a processing plant for the production of organic fertilisers in the country.
The facility will be set up between the Ashanti and Ahafo regions, with the exact location to be decided by a technical committee.
Under the MoU, Omanbapa AgriTech Ltd will invest $10 million into the entire project.
At the signing ceremony, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, signed for the sector while the Chief Executive Officer of Omanbapa AgriTech Ltd, Bernard Oduro Takyi, initialled for his organisation.
Transformation
At the signing ceremony, the Agric Minister said the ministry, as part of the transformation of agriculture, had decided to transition from the use of inorganic to organic fertiliser for obvious reasons.
"We are concerned about the health of the soil; we want to protect the soil health for future production, and we are also concerned about the safety of the food that we put on the market for the Ghanaian people to consume," he said.
Mr Opoku said the ministry had held several indoor discussions with the leadership of Omanbapa on how they could agree to set up a processing plant in the country to produce the organic fertilisers that had been "tested and have been certified".
The engagement, he said, was so important as it commenced the implementation of all the issues "we have discussed over the past four or five months".
"I must say that we are so excited today that all the discussions and efforts that were put into getting this thing done are becoming fruitful and successful. After this engagement, we expect nothing more than seeing the work commence on the ground.
"We have agreed to locate this facility in Ashanti and Ahafo areas, and Omanbapa has already been on the field, and I think that the decision has been made as to the specific location for this strategic intervention," he said
Processes
Mr Takyi said his company had completed all the required product registration processes with the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA).
He said the company had obtained the necessary certificates and licences to import, manufacture and trade in organic agricultural products in the country.
Mr Takyi, therefore, appealed to the ministry to consider Omanbapa in the next major procurement window for organic agricultural inputs.
Project
Later in an interview, Mr Takyi said his firm, together with its partners, sought to ensure that 80 per cent of MoFA agro inputs would be more organic.
The project, he said, would be in three phases – procurement, blending and full manufacturing, with the ministry being the chief buyer.
“We are going to have a committee set up to decide where exactly the project should be sited.
But it is going to be in between Ashanti and Ahafo regions, and we are looking at $10 million overall,” he explained.
On the production capacity, he said: “We are looking at 20,000 - 30,000 metric tonnes for the start at the blending level and at the full scale level about 60,000 metric tonnes”.
