In a remarkable crossover from the classroom to the fields, Mr Jibiliru Nankpa, a celebrated figure in education and a one-time National Best Teacher, Junior High School Category has won the 2024 Upper West Regional Best Farmer Award.
He was honoured on Friday night at the 40th National Farmers Awards held in Accra on November 8, 2024.
Mr Nankpa is the Manager of Augustine’s Farms in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region, a commercial farming operation that provides services to thousands of smallholder farmers across the municipality.
In an exclusive interview with Info Radio, Mr Nankpa expressed that it has always been his dream to become a successful farmer. This aspiration motivated him to begin his farming journey in 2014, after completing his teacher training college education and teaching for about ten years.
Known for his innovative teaching methods and tireless commitment, which also won him the Best Teacher for Sissala East Municipal, Mr Nankpa applied the same principles to his farm, transforming his once-small plot into a flourishing example of sustainable agriculture.
“The journey began in 2014, while I was a teacher teaching in the village I realized that farming was very lucrative. So I decided to go into it and when I began the commercial farming, I started with Four (4) acres…I was able to make about 200 per cent profit. So that’s where it signaled to me that this is an area you can venture into.
“So when I ventured into it with the support of Augustine’s Farm as you have mentioned, we went gradually, gradually and we were able to hit about 2000 acres of land,” he stated.
Mr. Jibiliru stated that he is a hardworking individual who takes his job seriously. A trait, he said, won him this prestigious accolade.
“I am somebody who is industrious and I don’t spare when I’m in my workplace. I do extraordinary work to be able to bring results. A lot of people are asking why I’m winning a lot of awards both in the teaching field and the farming field. As a leader, I lead in front, I don’t lead behind. I take the lead and my followers follow me.”
Still speaking on his journey as a teacher going into farming, Mr Nankpa disclosed that he took a loan after realizing that farming is lucrative to finance his farming and has since grown to the stage that he is today.
He stated that his company, Augustine's Farms, supports over 2,000 farmers by providing inputs and other agricultural materials to help them in their production efforts. He noted that the company has a permanent staff of 16 employees and employs 84 casual workers.
The company supports these smallholder farmers with inputs and tractor services on credit. The farmers pay the company after harvesting produce equivalent to the loan amount.
He expressed concern about the high cost of production, saying that farming is capital-intensive.
“Farming is capital intensive, you can be physically strong, but when you don’t have money, you can't go into farming.”
Mr Nankpa stated that the major problem for commercial farmers in the Sissala East Municipal is access to credit facility for farming.
“Our biggest problem is inability to access credit facilities. You will not believe that last year we went in for a loan and we were charged with an interest of 28 percent.”
The dry spell experienced in eight (8) regions, including the Upper West Region earlier this year, had negatively affected farmers, including Mr Nankpa’s Augustine’s Farms.
He argued that governments should invest in modern agricultural technologies to reduce farmers' dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
"This year alone with the acres I told you about, we have lost about 1600 acres of maize to the drought. We are helpless, the government is being cosmetic in dealing with them and you can rely on the government to do this.
"The solution we would have turned to, to solve our problem is irrigation and irrigation is no go area, is capital intensive," Mr Nankpa added.
The 2024 Upper West Regional Best Farmer mentioned that his company is facing a loss of approximately 70 per cent of its investment this year due to the dry spell. As a result, production is expected to decrease by 70 per cent in the upcoming season.
The government announced relief packages for farmers affected by drought. Mr. Nankpa criticized the government for merely paying lip service to farmers' concerns.
“I don’t trust the government 1 per cent. The support we are supposed to get from government is not coming and government is rather punishing us by bringing restrictions to prevent us not to export our goods outside to be able to get good amount of money,” he stated.
He advised farmers in the region to plant drought-tolerant seeds and to stagger the planting season by conducting early, middle, and late planting to mitigate the impact of changing weather conditions.
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