The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), as part of efforts to empower and equip its members with technical and logistical support, to improve productivity organized a one-day capacity building and input distribution exercise. This activity took place in Koluedor, in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region. This forms part of activities under the project titled Enhancing Vegetable Productivity and Market Linkages to improve job creation and sustained incomes for small holder farmers in Ghana with support from Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC). The overall goal of the project is to improve the livelihoods of small holder farmers, especially women and youth by increasing vegetable production and market access and creation of new jobs and income opportunities and enhancing the resilience of the vegetable value chain, thereby contributing to food security, poverty, reduction and economic growth.
The activity brought together over 300 small holder farmers, with majority of them, being young farmers between the ages of eighteen (18) and thirty-five (35), women farmers, farmers living with disabilities among others.
Mr. Richard Bosomprah, the District Agricultural Extension Officer, led a comprehensive training session focused on good agronomic practices such as fertilizer application, pest and disease control and post-harvest losses management. He also touched on the incoming Feed Ghana Program (FGP) and advised the participants to register their Farmers-Based Organizations (FBO) as cooperatives to help them benefit in the program. He said the program had come to support smallholder farmers as well as to increase food security for the entire country.
The Greater Accra and Eastern Regional focal representative of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Mr. Richard Deku advised smallholder farmers to be cautious about the type of inputs they used due to the effect it can have on their farms. He encouraged the farmers present to use the inputs for the intended purposes and apply the right quantity to avoid crop damage.
Dr. Roger Akanbisik, Program Officer of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), said that the initiative is part of a broader effort by PFAG and KIC to support inclusive agricultural development and ensure that smallholder farmers groups, especially the youth, women and people living with disability to have access to the knowledge, inputs and markets necessary for successful agricultural production.
Afterward, the farmers were presented with organic fertilizers, pepper and tomato seeds to aid their production. One of the young female farmers, Mad Beatrice Anim was grateful for the input and technical support, as this will greatly enhance their production and encourage young people to also go into farming. Other farmers further appealed for further support to improve vegetable production in the district.
The activity was also used to formally inaugurate the Ada West Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana.
