Organic fertilizer company in Ghana cries for help

Healthy eating is a great start towards a healthier life. Organic foods have become popular these days because of their benefits but same cannot be said of organic fertilizer.

An organic fertilizer company in Ghana located at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region has continued to suffer low patronage since it began operations in 2009.

Speaking to ghanabusinessnews.com during a tour of the company, the Chief Executive Officer of Farmers Hope Company Limited, Mr. Akwasi Osei Bobie Ansah lamented the inability of the Ministry of Agriculture to get involved in the project of producing organic fertilizer to help Ghanaian farmers and consumers.

“If government asks us to supply to SADA, it will help our work, so we appeal to government to give us a try. Our fertilizer is very smooth, with little water it gets into the soil,” he said.

According to Ansah, since 2009, it is only this year that interest in organic fertilizer is rising. And this is because government’s subsidized chemical fertilizer is more expensive, so farmers are looking for alternatives.

Dr. Kofi Buah, a former Seniour Research Scientist of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), who is the Soil Research consultant at Notill Demonstration Farm has said on a recorded video documentary that, “unlike the chemical fertilizer, this fertilizer is very rich and good because it is applied to all crops and any soil just once.  After that you wait for the crop to mature and you can harvest. It doesn’t also need much water to help the crop to grow well.”

Describing how the fertilizer is produced, the Production Manager of the company, Michael Aboagye Darko said they mix right and treated proportions of cocoa, potash, bio-char, processed manure, neem cake, leguminous husks among others to produce the fertilizer.

“We are really helping to preserve the environment because we use organic materials. We will create employment, help agriculture and protect the environment if we are given the needed support,” Ansah said. The company can produce between 1000 to 2000 bags of fertilizer a day, he adds.

Some studies show that organic foods have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, than their conventionally grown counterparts. In addition, people with allergies to foods, chemicals, or preservatives often find their symptoms lessen or go away when they eat only organic foods.

Organic farming is good for the environment in that, it reduces pollution (air, water, soil), conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy.

By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor, back from Ejisu, Ashanti Region