Ghana Farming & Agriculture

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  Volta Minister Initiates One Journalist, One Farm

  Dr Archibald Yao Letsa. As part of measures to improve the conditions of service of journalists and other media practitioners in the Volta Region, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Regional Minister, has initiated an agriculture programme dubbed, ‘One Journalist, One Farm.” The programme is expected to take off this year, and lands, seedlings and other agric extension services are expected to be given to journalists who are ready to venture into crop and animal farming   Read More ...

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  Ghana reports severe bird flu on farm: OIE

  PARIS: Ghana has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H9N2 bird flu virus on a farm in the southwest of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday, citing a report from Ghana's agriculture ministry. The virus infected and killed 4,225 poultry birds out of a flock of 16,822 on the farm located in the Dormaa Municipal district near the border with Ivory Coast, the report posted on its website showed   Read More ...

• Ghana reports severe bird flu on farm: OIE

  PARIS (Reuters) - Ghana has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H9N2 bird flu virus on a farm in the southwest of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday, citing a report from Ghana’s agriculture ministry. The virus infected and killed 4,225 poultry birds out of a flock of 16,822 on the farm located in the Dormaa Municipal district near the border with Ivory Coast, the report posted on its website showed   Read More ...

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  Hunters Burn Crops In Salaga

  A farmer lamenting over his loss. Some people from Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, have reportedly destroyed crops worth thousands of Ghana cedis, in the course of hunting at Masaka, a farming community in the Kalande Electoral Area, Salaga. Information gathered indicates that the fire suddenly became uncontrollable, spreading into nearby farms and destroying large hectors of yam, cashew and cowpea   Read More ...

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  Best Farmer Angry

  Mr Enimil (right) receiving his awards from the DCE of the area. DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the Overall Best Farmer for Prestea-Huni Valley District of the Western Region has returned awards that he received at the 2017 Farmers’ Day celebration in the district to the Agriculture Department. The award winner, John Enimil, 35, received a table-top fridge, bicycle, four knapsack spraying machines, five Wellington boots, nine cutlasses, 2 radio sets and a flat-screen TV   Read More ...

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  Women Sweep Farmers’ Awards At Tarkwa

  The three topmost awards at this year’s National Farmers’ Day celebration in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality of the Western Region were won by female Farmers. The celebration, which was held at Wassa Simpa, was under the theme, “Farming for food and jobs.” Madam Agnes Baah, 58-year-old farmer from Simpa, emerged the Overall Best farmer. She cultivates cocoa, rubber, cassava, cocoyam, plantain, pepper, sugarcane and rice, and also rears local fowls and ruminants   Read More ...

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  Best Farmer Grabs $100,000 Cash

  President Akufo-Addo presenting Best Farmer Award to Philip Kwaku Agyemang in Kumasi yesterday. A 50-year-old farmer from Dormaa in the Brong-Ahafo Region, Philip Kwaku Agyemang, was adjudged the overall best farmer for 2017 at the 33 National Farmers’ Day celebration in Kumasi yesterday. Mr. Agyemang, who grows a variety of food crops with 28 years’ experience in farming, beat 66 other Farmers and agric workers to emerge the winner at the ceremony attended by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo   Read More ...

• The First Meet The Farmers Conference

  From the farm to your plate, discover the journey. The Patron and chief guest H.E Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, Director of SAIF Zone and Hamriya Free Zone Food Park, has praised the very first Meet The Farmers Conference as a great initiative that will connect African Farmers to the GCC market. “We are delighted to be partnering with Meet the Farmers Conference where we will showcase Hamriyah Free Zone’s Food Park and offerings to the Food and Agri Business Community of Africa   Read More ...

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  Cocoa Farmers Dump Minority

  Some Cocoa Farmers. Cocoa and Coffee Farmers have indicated that they are happy with the current Cocoa price set by government. According to the Farmers, they were happy that the government maintained the Cocoa price, particularly at a time when the world price had fallen. President of the Cocoa and Coffee Farmers Association of Ghana, Alhaji Alhassan Bukari, who spoke to Accra-based Kasapa FM, explained that Cocoa Farmers were hopeful that the government will increase Cocoa price when the world market price of the commodity increases   Read More ...

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  I‘ll Help Farmers To Market Produce – Nominee

  Kennedy Nyarko Osei. Deputy minister-designate for Food and Agriculture, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, told the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Thursday that he would use his educational background as a marketer to help farmers market their produce. He particularly mentioned the youth who are now venturing into farming under the government’s ‘Planting for Food and Jobs” initiative. He said marketing of farm produce had been a big challenge to farmers, especially during bumper harvest season, and so there should be an innovative and simpler means for farmers to market their produce to increase their incomes   Read More ...

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  Good News For Poultry Farmers

  John Manu, Ashanti Regional Agric Director (middle) Government will soon come out with transformation models to upscale poultry industry in its quest for increase production and job creation, the Ashanti Regional Director of Agriculture, Rev John Manu has said. According to him, this may come in a form of support and creation of the enabling environment to make Ghana a hub for poultry meat production and promote protein intake in the face of challenging trading environment   Read More ...

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  Gov’t Pins Hopes On Cereals

  A group photo of the participants. Government has indicated that the country can make significant progress in the production of cereals and other crops in the coming years following the roll out of its “Planting for Food and Jobs” policy. Dr Sagre Bambangi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, who disclosed this, said the policy would also enhance efforts being made by government to boost the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) driven Regional Food Security Storage Reserve Project (RESOGEST)   Read More ...

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  Gov’t Expects Bumper Harvest

  Vice President Bawumia addressing the gathering. Government says it expects to see a bumper harvest due to the implementation of its flagship ‘Planting For Food & Jobs’ initiative, which is in its first year. Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Afriyie Akoto, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Accra at the Agriculture and Agribusiness Investment Forum organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPC), said his outfit had engaged the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to see how best government could use some 275 abandoned warehouses belonging to the Board to store crops, which are already being harvested   Read More ...

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  Ghana To Regain Cocoa Position

  Cocoa President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his government’s commitment to improving the country’s agriculture, especially the cocoa sub-sector, through the mass spraying exercise and provision of subsidized fertilizers to farmers. According to the president, Ghana will soon regain her pride of place in the cocoa industry with deliberate policies and measures aimed at boosting production. Speaking at a grand durbar to celebrate Cocoa Day in Kumasi yesterday, President Akufo-Addo indicated that as part of the policy to increase production, the government had taken away the oversight responsibility of the cocoa industry from the Ministry of Finance   Read More ...

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  200 Poultry Farmers Upgrade Knowledge

  A section of the poultry farmers in the classroom during the workshop. Two hundred selected poultry farmers from the Atwima Nwabiagya District in the Ashanti Region have attended a one-week intensive training workshop, aimed at boosting their efficiency in healthy chicken production. The educative programme, a brainchild of Darko Farms and other foreign bodies, including PUM and GPP Company, Netherlands, would also help the participants to properly position themselves and benefit from government programmes   Read More ...

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  Weija Farmers Appeal To Govt For Support

  Chairman of the farmers, Shaibu presenting the money to the chief and elders of the community. About 275 farmers made up of 25 women, who are into Irrigation farming at Weija Irrigation Farms in the Greater Accra Region, have appealed to the government, through the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), to provide new pumping machines to the farming groups to replace the old and obsolete ones   Read More ...

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  Farmers Embrace Planting For Food Program

  Fertilizers for the programme being packed. Farmers in the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality and environs have indicated that government’s ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme will help increase their yields and change their economic situation. According to them, the flagship programme will boost food production, create jobs for the teeming youth and also alleviate poverty in the area. At Ejura, Nsuta, Kwaman and other communities, the Farmers told DAILY GUIDE that the government was committed to boosting food production   Read More ...

• AfDB releases report on capital flows for forest development in Africa

  The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Climate Investment Funds’ forest investment programme (CIF FIP) have released a report on how unlocking capital can foster forest sector development in Africa and highlights the benefits of forestry investments in Ghana and in West Africa The report has been built on the results of the first African Forestry Investment Conference (AFIC) organised by AfDB in Ghana in June 2017   Read More ...

• Homie Recipes announce JV with West African Stevia Company and Ghanaian KOP Farms

  Homie Recipes, Inc, has announced that it has entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with the West African Stevia Company and KOP Farms located in Ghana, West Africa Terms of the Joint Venture Agreement call for the parties to immediately plant and cultivate 50 hectares (approx. 120 acres) of Stevia, increasing in stages up to 2,500 hectares (approx. 6,200 acres) planted   Read More ...

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  Ghanaians Urged To Consume More Cocoa

  Cocoa. Ghanaians have been advised to consume more cocoa for a healthier life since it has immense health benefits, Jane A. Yeboah, a Deputy Public Affairs Manager at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) said at a farmers’ rally organized by the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) at Ntotroso in the Bechem District of the Brong Ahafo Region. It was to sensitize farmers on the new policies and programmes for sustainable cocoa production   Read More ...

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  Maize Farmers Get Major Boost

  Francis Clottey, External Consultant, James Zhang, Sales & Marketing Manager, Bruce Wang, Marketing Executive. Maize farmers in the country now stand the high chance of increasing yield even in unfriendly weather conditions following the introduction of the Wynca Sunshine Maize High Yield Solution System. The newly developed Crop Solutions Plan has been piloted in nine different Maize-growing communities in the Upper Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo Districts in the Eastern Region, the Nkoranza North and Nkoranza South Districts in the Brong Ahafo Region, and Boankra in the Ashanti Region where farmers were able to record double yields   Read More ...

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  Ghanaian man milks know-how from Ontario dairy to help home country

  Ghana is almost totally dependent on bulk milk imports, according the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Most dairy goods arrive from Europe in the form of powdered milk and processed products. Local milk rarely enters the market. An ambitious agriculture apprentice wants to recreate Ontario’s bucolic cow pastures and vast mechanized dairy farms in a place where a glass of non-powdered milk is considered an exotic drink   Read More ...

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  Improving The Livelihoods Of Cocoa Farmers

  Ohene Boafo. Ohene Boafo runs his hands through the brown cocoa beans spread across the man-made wooden drying structure at his home in Atta Ne Atta in the West Akim Municipal District of the Eastern Region. “I harvested them a few days ago from my cocoa farm. I am drying them so I can sell,” he says. Mr Boafo has been a cocoa farmer since he was a youth, but says his vocation has not brought him so much satisfaction until recently   Read More ...

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  Minister Blows GH¢157m On ‘Planting For Food’

  Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto. The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto on Thursday told parliament that the government has so far spent GH¢157,023,174.00 on its ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme in the southern sector and the three northern regions. He said out of the amount, GH¢24,963,981.00 has been spent on improved seeds, especially for the production of maize, rice, soyabean, sorghum, tomato, onion and pepper, while GH¢132,059,193   Read More ...

• Ghana aims 1.5 mmt annual cocoa production

  Ghana is aiming to achieve an annual Cocoa production of 1.5 mmt within the next four years through reforms, chairman of Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Hackman Owusu-Agyemang said Owusu-Agyemang, who was addressing the official opening of the West Africa Fertilizer and Agribusiness Conference, said that the necessary measures, including hi-tech agronomy practices, were being implemented to reach this target. "It is our objective to achieve a targeted 1   Read More ...

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  Stonebwoy Urges Youth To Go Into Cocoa Farming

  Stonebwoy. Livingstone Etse Satekla, known in showbiz as Stonebwoy, is rallying young people across the country to go into the production of cocoa as a means of earning a decent livelihood for themselves. According to the dancehall artiste, the cocoa sector which is one of the biggest exports earners of Ghana, risks extinction due to the aging numbers of farmers, hence the need to educate whip the youth to take up the venture   Read More ...

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  Fall Armyworm Invade Pong Tamale Farms

  Some of the affected farms in Pong Tamale. Fall Armyworms have invaded farms at Malgunaayili, near Pong Tamale in the Savelugu Municipality of the Northern Region. Information available indicates that large tracts of farmlands had been affected by the fall armyworms. Most farmers in the Northern Region are afraid to farm due to the invasion by the fall armyworms for fear of losing their capital   Read More ...

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  Accra Hosts West African Fertilizer, Agribusiness Confab

  Dr Afriyie Akoto, Minister for Agriculture. The West Africa Fertilizer Agribusiness Conference and the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) are expected to be hosted in Accra from 10-12 July at the Movenpick Hotel. It comes at a time when the agribusiness sector has received a boost from the country’s new leadership. “The three-day conference and networking event will attract over 250 attendees and feature specialist workshops, keynote presentations, interactive panel discussions, break-out sessions and a site visit to the Nestle Tema factory,” said CRU Events CEO Nicola Coslett   Read More ...

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  The prize-winning tech helping Ghana's farmers to grow

  Accra - Agyei Douglas is a farmer who grows vegetables near Kumasi in Ghana's central Ashanti region. He used to struggle to access markets and capital. The information he needed was broadcast on the radio but often it wasn't specific enough to improve his yield of lettuce, spring onions, cabbage and chilli pepper. Two years ago, the 43-year-old began using Farmerline, which delivers weather updates, the latest market prices and other details to his second generation mobile phone   Read More ...

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  Prize-winning tech helping Ghana's farmers to grow, pioneering online legal services in Uganda

  Prize-winning tech helping Ghana’s farmers to grow, pioneering online legal services in Uganda The prize-winning tech helping Ghana’s farmers to grow, pioneering legal services online in Uganda. Accra, Ghana | AFP | Agyei Douglas is a farmer who grows vegetables near Kumasi in Ghana’s central Ashanti region. He used to struggle to access markets and capital. The information he needed was broadcast on the radio but often it wasn’t specific enough to improve his yield of lettuce, spring onions, cabbage and chilli pepper   Read More ...

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  The prize-winning tech helping Ghana’s farmers to grow

  Agyei Douglas is a farmer who grows vegetables near Kumasi in Ghana’s central Ashanti region. He used to struggle to access markets and capital. The information he needed was broadcast on the radio but often it wasn’t specific enough to improve his yield of lettuce, spring onions, cabbage and chilli pepper. Two years ago, the 43-year-old began using Farmerline, which delivers weather updates, the latest market prices and other details to his second generation mobile phone   Read More ...

• West Africa to organise fertiliser agribusiness conference in Ghana

  In collaboration with CRU Events, African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) will organise a three-day west Africa Fertiliser Agribusiness conference in Accra from 10 to 12 July 2017, aiming to improve Fertiliser supply market and agribusiness value chain through the SMEs The three main themes of the conference are partnership, investment and innovation, with focused discussions on the Fertiliser market in west Africa and workshops   Read More ...

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  NSS Cultivates 1,650 Acres of Maize

  Mustapha Ussif ready to apply fertilizer to the crops. The Executive Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Mustapha Ussif has said that the Service has revived its defunct farming operations with the cultivation of more than one thousand six hundred and fifty (1,650) acres of maize at various locations in the country. He mentioned 350 acres cultivated at Dawhenya near the national irrigation canal in the Greater Region, 650 acres each at Ejura and Breman in the Brong Ahafo and Central regions respectively   Read More ...

• Northern Farmers Pleased With Fertilizer Cost Reduction

  President Nana Akufo-Addo. The Farmers in the Northern Regional have expressed their profound gratitude to government for reducing prices of fertilizer by 50 percent. According to them, the Northern Region is predominantly agriculture based and produces 60 percent of the food in Ghana. They reiterated their commitment to supporting the government’s agenda to transform agriculture in Ghana. “Farmers in this region cannot afford to allow this opportunity to slip by, hence their support for the programme for food and income security   Read More ...

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  Agric Chamber Appeals To Gov’t

  Dr Owusu Afriyie-Akoto – Minister for Agriculture. The Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness has appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to provide more extension services to farmers across the country. The Chamber made the call in a press statement signed by one of its senior executives, Anthony Selorm Morrison. The Chamber said it has become necessary for more extension services to be offered to farmers because of the reported invasion of cereal farms by army worms in some parts of the country   Read More ...

• Ghana considering premium cocoa discount to local grinders

  ACCRA May 3 Ghana's Cocobod is considering proposals to discount its premium main crop beans to local grinders as part of the new government's plans to increase local processing to 50 percent of annual output, the regulator's board chairman said on Wednesday. Locally processed beans in the world's second largest cocoa producer have dropped to below 30 percent in the last two years from around 38 percent previously due to lack of cheaper beans, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang told reporters after a tour of the plants   Read More ...

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  SA Investors Explore Cocoa Sector

  Lulama Xingwana (left), Miriam Okwabi, Dr. Francis Oppong, (2 left), James Kutsoati (1 right) and some of the investors in a pose. A group of investors from South Africa, led by Lulama Xingwana, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Ghana, have visited Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) on Friday to explore investment opportunities in the country’s Cocoa subsector. Commending the unique flavor of chocolate produced from Ghana’s Cocoa, Xingwana expressed the hope   Read More ...

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  Plan For Sugarcane Plantation To Feed Komenda Out

  The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Gabrah. The government is to establish its own sugar plantation to produce more than 100,000 tonnes of sugarcane per annum to the feed the Komenda Sugar Factory. . As a result of this, the Ministry of Finance is seeking Parliamentary approval for a credit facility of US$ 24.54 million from the Exim Bank of India to finance the development of an irrigation   Read More ...

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  Galamsey Threatens Cocoa Production

  The Oxford Business Group (OBG) has warned that Ghana risks losing a substantial part of its agriculture land due to the activities of illegal miners popularly called ‘Galamsey’. According to the group, galamsey activities also pose a major danger to Ghana’s cash crop-cocoa, which has been a significant contributor to economic growth and foreign earnings for the country. A statement released by the group said that , “Another concern is   Read More ...

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  Armyworms Invade Farms In Akatsi

  Famine looms in the Akatsi North district of the Volta Region as farmers are battling an armyworm infestation on their farms. About six acres of maize and cassava farms have already been destroyed in three communities within the last 24 hours. The occurrence has crippled the hopes of these farmers who depend solely on their farms, their only source of livelihood, to support their families. The worms which were first   Read More ...