Agro Kings Ltd, producer of Nana’s Rice, with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is organizing a one-month training course for ten female tractor operators/farm managers at the Agricultural Mechanisation Training Centre at Adidome Farm Institute and Agro Kings Farms, Akuse.
The project is supported by the Sustainable Employment through Agribusiness (AgriBiz) and technical support from the Agricultural Engineering Services Directorate (AESD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA),
The fully-funded training programme seeks to develop women’s skills in managing agricultural machinery and equipment for enhanced agricultural productivity in Ghana. The overall objective is to increase women’s employability and earning potential, particularly in the field of mechanised agriculture.
Agro Kings, since its establishment in 2017, has been pioneering a model that places women at the forefront of large-scale commercial agriculture and food processing. With 60 percent of its management team being women, Agro Kings trains and employs women as farm managers, mechanization leads, and tractor operators.
According to its Co-founder, Nana Owusu-Achau, Agro Kings is taking its commitment to the next level by employing women in its operations and training more women in a usually male-dominated field for the industry.
The first edition of this initiative will recruit 10 women for one month of fully funded in-class and field training. The first 2 weeks will be held at the Adidome Farm Institute with practicals following for the last 2 weeks on the 10,000-acre farm field of Agro Kings. The trainees will have the opportunity to be taught by agriculture mechanization experts and have access to machinery for learning on Agro Kings farms.
Accommodation, meals, and other key resources will be provided for the participants, with a fully-funded license E to operate tractors and other agriculture machinery at the end of the program. As Agro Kings expands its operations and acquires more tractors, it is looking to employ some of the outstanding participants to join its team of female tractor operators.
The course will cover topics including operating systems, health and safety management in tractor operations; understanding tractor controls, instruments, and driving; agricultural machinery and tractor operations; maintenance and storage of farm tractors and implements; and tractor operation business and management. Trainees at the end of the training are expected to acquire the necessary knowledge and practical skills to operate and maintain tractors and their related equipment.
To be eligible, applicants must be women between the ages of 18 and 40 who possess basic literacy and numeracy skills. Participants must demonstrate a desire in agriculture and must be willing to work on the farm. Interested applicants must register before 10th August 2021 by contacting Agro Kings Limited. Participants recruited are expected to report on Saturday 21st August for training to begin on Monday 23rd August.
Recently, Agro Kings was commended for its large-scale youth innovation in agriculture and entrepreneurship with women at the forefront by the VP African Development Bank Group. In 4 years, the company has already engaged more than 350 smallholder farmers; empowering them to increase earnings by 40 percent and transforming the lives of over 3,000 families along the value chain.
Agro Kings is expanding its production to 10,000 acres. It has three main crops with rice production and milling as the main focus, but it also produces and processes sweet potatoes and chilli peppers.
