The Research for Development Innovation Agriculture and Learning – ReDIAL, a four-year European Union co-funded project under the DeSira initiative, closes out with significant bold solutions to smallholder grain and cereal farmers in Ghana’s food-producing zones.
ReDIAL focused on providing innovative agricultural solutions to smallholder grains and cereal farmers, particularly the marginalized, in Ghana’s major food-producing zones of Techiman in the Bono East Municipal, Ejura in the Ejura Sekyedumase District of the Ashanti Region, Yendi in the Northern Region, Sefwi Wiawso in the Western North Region and Donkorkrom in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District of the Eastern Region.
The four-year life of the project introduced the multi-crop threshers to over (11500) smallholder farmers in the five project zones, threshing 330,200 kilograms of high-quality grains for almost 1000 farmers (i.e. maize, cowpea, rice, and beans) at no cost to them.
This initiative significantly contributed to a reduction in post-harvest grain losses in these zones for smallholder and marginalized farmers and eliminated the laborious manual threshing which in many cases involved children with poor-quality output.
The project also introduced the Farm Sense Soil Testing technology that instantly measures the fertility status of a farmer’s land cleared for cultivation and provides figures on the status of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels.
This helped marginalized farmers to determine suitable crops for their soils, and in situations where specific nutrients are lacking, indigenous climate-smart soil nutrient enrichment practices were proffered. In all, 1290 stakeholders (including Agric. officials, and smallholder farmers) had their capacity built in the operation of the FarmSense soil testing technology.
Additionally, over 768 smallholder farmers had their farms tested with the FarmSense technology and were advised on appropriate soil nutrient enrichment mechanisms to adopt. In addition, the (19) Village Savings and Loans Associations formed across the zones, with a total membership of (581) including (121) physically challenged persons and smallholder farmers, and the economic empowerment initiative provided self-help financial support totaling (Gh1.2m) to these “credit unworthy” farmers and provided augmented livelihood skills such as soap making, bread and beekeeping to (648) farmers.
Through the ReDIAL project, we have seen tangible improvements in the capacity of smallholder farmers to improve their knowledge of improved farming technologies; as we close the project, we are confident that the gains made will be sustained through the capacities built, partnerships forged, and communities empowered.” Said Massimo Mina, Head of Cooperation, European Union in Ghana.
The Coordinator of the ReDIAL Project and Executive Director of Friends of the Nation, Donkris Mevuta emphasized that the introduction and testing of FarmSense technology yielded a critical insight.
He stressed that ‘ignoring soil fertility considerations can result in lower yields, affecting farmers’ income and threatening food security, a lesson underscoring the grave consequences of neglecting soil health for small-scale farmers”.
Other initiatives by the project include facilitating the resolution of farmer-herder conflict in the Kwahu Afram Plains and Ejura farming zones as well as initiating a national conversation on a Crop Weighing Regime through the Project’s Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue platforms which are made up of a bottom-up membership of agricultural value chain actors.
As the project closes out, a total of (Gh125,000) worth of assets are being handed over to a Post ReDIAL Management Committee in each of the five project zones.
The assets include 10 multi-crop threshers, (15) portable farm sense soil testing kits, and five public address systems. ReDIAL was implemented by a consortium of five partners, made up of Friends of the Nation as the lead partner, Tropenbos Ghana, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Sesi Technologies and SAYeTECH.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Rosemond Akuorkor Adjetey
