By Mohammed AWAL ([email protected])
In the heart of the rural savannah zone of Northern Ghana, a quiet revolution is taking place with AMAATI, a triple-bottom-line business. They are not only tackling food insecurity and poverty but also nurturing the land and empowering women through the revival of fonio, an indigenous grain that had long been forgotten.
Founded as a registered social enterprise, AMAATI embarked on a mission to breathe new life into fonio, a crop that had vanished from the region for over a century. Their approach was simple yet powerful: to work hand-in-hand with farmers, particularly women, to produce and process fonio while regenerating degraded lands.
Reflecting on her mother’s story during her master’s program, Abdulai Salma, co-founder and CEO, shared, “What inspired me to found AMAATI Company Limited was a story from my mother. She told me the story of how women in Northern Ghana do not own land because of the fact that they are going to be married off. So, she didn’t have access to land to farm. She had to work on people’s farms as labor and make ends meet.”
Salma’s realisation came during her master’s program when one of her lecturers discussed fonio and its potential growth on marginal lands. This led to the question: “Why don’t we get those unfertile lands for the women to cultivate fonio so that they can make not just income but dignified income from their own sweat?”
With a belief in sustainable food production and consumption depending heavily on the soil, the team at AMAATI is using a market-led approach to support vulnerable, landless women in deprived communities in rural savannah to cultivate fonio on community poor soils that have been abandoned.
fonio, often overlooked, possesses a remarkable ability to rejuvenate depleted soils after three years of continuous cultivation. As pioneers in fonio revival in Ghana, AMAATI facilitates access to marginal lands for women, enabling them to harness this unique grain’s potential.
AMAATI’s vision states, “Our mission is to create sustainable communities in West Africa through fonio, which nourishes the land, people, and society.” Their objective is clear: to stimulate production and consumption of fonio and its derivatives by improving post-harvest processing, reducing costs, enhancing quality, and expanding market reach.
AMAATI’s impact speaks volumes. Over 40 communities have benefited, with the lives of over 5000 smallholder farmers transformed. Through regenerating more than 3000 acres of degraded land, they’ve diversified the livelihoods of nearly 5000 women farmers, addressing their limited rights to land and resources.
With a seven-member board boasting over a century of industry experience and a dedicated staff of 35, AMAATI is poised for global success. Their state-of-the-art processing facility in Pagazaa employs 20 women, responsible for turning fonio into high-quality products like DIM fonio grain and flour. Certified by local and international authorities, AMAATI’s products meet the highest standards of quality and sustainability.
“We have moved on from 10 landless women, and today we have over 5000 smallholder women farmers. But overall, we have some men farmers, who are about 1600. Overall, we have about 7,800 smallholder farmers,” says Salma.
Fuseina Lamboo expressed excitement about the intervention, saying, “We used to suffer to sell our fonio, but AMAATI has come closer to us, and we sell to her directly. We do not suffer anymore.” She added, “We are happy AMAATI is here.”
Mobo Adasu added, “AMAATI came last year, and what they have done for us is enough for anyone to join them in the fonio farming. The company is clean, and they take care of us. Now we can also count money. We do not want AMAATI to leave our area.”
Thanks to the partnership between Mastercard Foundation and IDH, AMAATI stands as a beacon of hope, demonstrating that business success can go hand in hand with social and environmental impact. As a female-owned enterprise under the Grains for Growth Program, they exemplify the potential of small and medium-sized enterprises to drive meaningful change.
Driven by a belief that all people should have an equal chance to succeed, the Mastercard Foundation, in partnership with IDH, is on a mission to end poverty among women and empower them in several fields, including agriculture.
The partnership program named “Grains for Growth” aims to develop inclusive and economically viable grain supply chains that offer employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, contribute to better incomes, and improve the livelihoods of farmers, especially women
In the vast expanses of the rural savannah, AMAATI’s story, therefore , serves as an inspiration—a testament to the transformative power of sustainable agriculture, women’s empowerment, and community resilience. As they continue to grow and expand their reach, AMAATI’s journey reminds us that nourishing the world begins with nurturing the soil and empowering those who cultivate it.
