OCP Africa, in a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has increased its efforts to support the agricultural value chain in Ghana. This agreement seeks to intensify OCP Africa’s flagship agribooster programme that will bring a global offer to farmers with access to the quality of inputs, training and market.
The 2020 Agribooster Campaign is aligned with government’s flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Programme, jointly implemented between OCP Africa and MoFA, and has provided improved fertilisers to support farmers across eight regions of Ghana to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on smallholder farmers.
Over 100,000 farmers who have benefitted from these improved fertilisers in the 2020 agribooster campaign will also receive training in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
Country Manager of OCP Africa in Ghana, Samuel Oduro-Asare, noted that it has now become come necessary, more than ever, to support farmers because they are confronted with adverse effects from COVID-19 on their farming season.
“COVID-19 has affected many areas of our lives, and unfortunately the agricultural sector has not been exempted. Committed as we are for transformation of food systems in Ghana, it is imperative that we support our farmers in these difficult times,” he said. “This is why OCP Africa, in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has committed to supplying inputs to farmers through the Agribooster programme.
“Our 2020 Agribooster campaign has officially commenced with the distribution (21,500 metric tonnes) of improved fertiliser (NPK 11.22.21 + TE) to farmers. Our importer partners, namely Africa Fertiliser Company Limited, Garnoma Agrichemicals, Ltd., Intercontinental Group Ltd. and Glofert Ltd., have distributed the fertiliser to farmer aggregators across eight regions of Ghana,” he added.
According to Mr. Oduro, smallholder farmers will also be trained in the proper use of inputs and securing access to finance and markets, which will positively impact their productivity and finances to help them over the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
OCP Africa is positive that the timely delivery of these products, especially in the northern sectors, will go a long way to assist farmers who are about to apply fertiliser to their crops in this COVID-19 period.
The 2019 Agribooster Campaign trained 87 extension officers, 400 lead farmers and 42,605 smallholder farmers in Good Agricultural Practices. Additionally, 3,700 metric tonnes of NPK fertiliser were supplied to 14,800 smallholder farmers cultivating a total of 37,000 acres. Their yields increased from 1.8 metric tonnes per hectare to 2.6 metric tonnes per hectare, representing an increase of 44%.
