Another attempt to raise personal incomes through farming
Another attempt to raise personal incomes through significant raises in production levels of smallholder farmers is underway in six mid-level districts of the Volta Region.
The districts are Kadjebi, Jasikan, Hohoe, Kpando, North-Dayi, and Afadjato-South.
The project, which was launched on Tuesday at Atonkor-Buem in the Jasikan district is dubbed, “Scaling out the Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project.”
It is under the aegis of the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and comes as linkage to a pilot in three of the districts ending recently.
Dr Kwasi Ampofo, AGRA Country Director said within the three years of the pilot project, 18,115 in the beneficiary districts, Hohoe, Jasikan and Kadjebi, had adopted the Integrated Soil Fertility Management Technology which saw maize yield in targeted fields increase from 1.5 to between 2.9 and 3.5 metric tonnes.
He said if the first project more than doubled yields of farmers, what had just commenced should “lift them up to six (6) metric tonnes”.
The lead implementing Agency of the integrated project is Africare, an African-American led non-profit international development organization, working through micro-finance organizations, agro-input, seed propagating, project evaluation firms and the technical officers of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
Dr Ampofo said the project was to guide the farmers dump the unsustainable method of slashing, burning, planting and moving on to fresher fields.
He said additionally the AGRA Project ensured that “the farmer has access to high quality seed of improved crop varieties, high quality inputs such as fertilizers and chemicals, access to finance and better markets”.
Madam Hazel Hasford Project Manager of Africare said the current project would focus on maize, cassava targeting 20,000 farmers.
Mr Samuel Larbi, Volta Regional Director of MOFA wanted the project replicated in other district to speed up Ghana’s drive towards food security.
Source: GNA