European Union Ghana Agriculture Programme (EUGAP) has empowered women in the Duong community in the Nadowli-Kaleo District through its Conservation Agriculture (CA) farming methods.
The adoption of the CA formed part of the EUGAP’s efforts at enhancing community resilience through the promotion of climate-resilient agricultural practices and the improvement of livelihoods.
Through its demonstration farm model, the women have been trained to use the principles of conservation agriculture to improve their farming activities in the face of rising climate change conditions.
The demonstration farm in Duoung is among 200 CA demonstration plots that have been established to serve as platforms for empowering farmers with practical knowledge of farming techniques that protect the soil and environment and as well enhance productivity.
During a field visit, Mr. Karima Vitalis, an Agric Extension Officer in the Duong area, explained that the CA farming methodology relies on three principles zero or minimal tillage, total soil cover, and crop diversification.
“Farming is not a new thing, but as times go on, things have changed, climate change has come. We need to adapt to new farming strategies that would help us and CA is one of the perfect strategies we have to adapt to,” he said.
He said the demonstration farm served as a learning centre where the women farmers were taught the new strategies for replication on their farms.
The women farmers in the community said the training, through the demonstration farm, has been very impactful, helping them to improve upon their farming activities within the community.
They noted that the new CA method of farming has helped to increase yield and ultimately improve their livelihood through improved yields.
“From the demonstration farm, we saw a difference between the crops here and in our own farms. So we have taken the knowledge and practices from here to our farms,” Madam Anastasia Kyipiah, one of the women farmers from Duong, said.
She, however, lamented that the produce from the farm could have been greater but the almost two-month dry spell experienced between July and August in the Upper West and other parts of the northern regions.
Through its Youth in Agribusiness (YiAB) programme, the EUGAP supported Apex Peanuts, a peanut processing venture in the Lawra municipality, to improve its operations and also create jobs.
The CEO of Apex Peanuts, Boro Bayi Emmanuel said the mentorship support from EUGAP has been very instrumental in the growth of his business.
“Beginning the business, I lacked the skills, how to package my products, I did not have formal structures, my business wasn’t formally registered, and how to raise funding was a problem.
“Through the YiAB program, I learned all these skills that I lacked and I was able to acquire all these things [machines and equipment] through crowdfunding because I learned the act of fundraising,” he said.
The EUGAP is funded by the European Union and German development cooperation and implemented by GIZ in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Ghana.
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