Organic gardening community mourns Rosemond Formadi, champion of sustainable living
Ghana’s home gardening and organic farming community is mourning the loss of Madam Rosemond Formadi, an avid promoter of sustainable healthy living.
Ms Formadi was a professional home science educator, who dedicated her life to sustainable farming and healthy living, earning recognition both on and off social media.
Ms Formadi passed away aged 61 and she left behind three children and a string of social media communities, she established to promote the culture and lifestyle.
Tributes at her funeral held on Saturday in Kpando, where she built a prime home garden, showed the physical, emotional and spiritual impact of the lifelong dedication.
Members of various organisations and social groups connected to healthy living bade her farewell.
“Today we come together to honour the memory of Madam Rosemond Formadi, a beloved member of the iSpace Vault Community.
“Her deep-seated passion for organic home gardening touched the hearts of many, inspiring us all with her commitment to cultivating fresh, sustainable produce,” the ISpace Foundation which she was a member said in a parting message.
“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to you, Madam Rosemond, for planting the seeds of sustainability and generously sharing your knowledge and warmth with everyone around you,” the eulogy concluded.
Members of “The Home Gardners Corner and Lifestyle,” popular social media space she created, also shared an emotional message.
“Madam Rosemond was much more than the founder of our organic home gardening community; she was its heart and soul. With her cheerful spirit, she welcomed us all into the world of organic farming, showing us how to care for plants and our health.
“Madam Rosemond’s passion for organic gardening was unparalleled. She believed deeply in the importance of cultivating the earth in harmony with nature – without chemicals, without shortcuts and always with sustainability in mind.
“Her home’s container gardening was her living classroom, a testament to her dedication to finding natural solutions to gardening challenges. It was here that she experimented, researched and developed ideas that she shared generously with us all. Her garden was not only a beautiful oasis; it was a model for what each of us could achieve in our own small spaces. With every success, she showed us that a sustainable, thriving garden was within everyone’s reach.
“Her legacy lives on in every plant, every bloom, and every gardener she inspired. Mama Rosemond may no longer be with us, but her spirit will forever grow in the gardens she helped us create, in the values she planted in our hearts, and in the community that will always remember her with love and gratitude,” the tribute read.
Known gardeners who worked with her spoke of the bond she made with plants, and said she would often bless them with loving words.
Tributes by her children shared how she connected with nature while keeping a strong Christian faith.
Madam Rosemond is known to keep strict tabs on diet and healthy living and was a walking almanac of plants and natural foliage.
Members of the “Water Fasting/Low Carbo/Keto” social media community also shared their loss at the funeral.
Modesta, the second child of the deceased and who carried her gardening lifestyle told the Ghana News Agency the infamous garden was being maintained to her memory.
The late naturalist also ran seed nurseries for large scale farms and ventured into food processing as well.
Jean Marie Formadi, NDC Parliamentary Candidate for the Biakoye Constituency and who is a sister, also told the GNA, “we will keep her legacy alive”.
Madam Rosemond was Born in Kpando, where she had basic education.
Her formative years took her around the Volta and Eastern Regions, and she acquired a professional career as a Tutor at the OLA teacher training college.
Ms Formadi progressed to become home economics teacher at the Vakpo Senior High School, and in the Western Region, where she held prominent positions including senior house mistress and matron at a senior high school there.
She propelled further with courses at the KNUST and the UCC and later took a Diploma in Family and Consumer Sciences at the UDS.
Ms Formadi also took theological education, and departed a leader of faith, entrepreneur and industrialist who kept alive a fashion brand.
Her social and professional network included the Ghana Enterprises Agency, and the Vault Accelerator Programme among many.
By Samuel Akumatey
Source: GNA