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Dr. Mrs. Derkyi addressing some participants
Cocoa farmers and tree nursery operators in Atwima-Mponua district of Ashanti region received training on “innovative farming practices” for improving their tree and nursery activities.
Jointly organized by the local farmers association of Kokoo Pa, the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Sunyani and the Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands, the first day “ cocoa target ”was held in Bibiani in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso- Bekwai Municipality of the North West region on the theme“ Nurseries and nurseries: exploring opportunities for rural women and youth ”.
The program has been designed to give farmers the opportunity to involve stakeholders in the agricultural sector to familiarize themselves with modern and innovative best agricultural practices in order to improve their agro-economic income generation.
The participants, around 90, included more young women between the ages of 15 and 35 from Donkoto, Akantansu and Debra Camp, farming communities in the district.
Other stakeholders brought together by the platform were researchers, agricultural and forestry officers, technocrats from public and private sector institutions who work with farmers at the district level to exchange knowledge, learn from each other and share innovative practical ideas to improve the crops of participants / tree companies.
The institutions included; the Seed Production Division and the Cocoa Health and Extension Division of the Ghana Cocoa Board, the Forestry Services Division of the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Participants were reflected on and sensitized on practices affecting land fertility, rainfall patterns, causes of climate change and weather conditions, soil types and crops needed to cultivate, the importance of nursing, good care methods and planting time to increase crop yields.
They also benefited from seed support opportunities, access to tree seedlings for commercial agriculture, biological knowledge on pest and disease control, the importance of trees on farms and benefits of trees for farmers.
Addressing participants, Ms. Mercy Derkyi, Dean of the School of Natural Resources at UENR and facilitator, said the purpose of the learning platform was also to connect agricultural experts from different backgrounds. directly with farmers and to create a network that would help them to acquire the agricultural knowledge necessary to increase crop gains.
She urged participants to strive to keep proper farm records and train farmer organizations as part of best practices to improve their chances of easily accessing finance to improve their agribusiness businesses.
Sponsored by the Government of the Netherlands through the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Ms Derkyi said the training of the learning platform has started in Tepa and Mankranso in the municipality of Ahafo Ano North and South District of Ahafo Ano, respectively in Ashanti Region, Kade in Kwaebibirem Municipality of East Region, Sunyani and Atwima Mponua
The ultimate goal, she said, was to develop and strengthen climate-smart strategies in cocoa production systems to improve the livelihoods and incomes of Ghanaian smallholder farmers whose main source is of income depended on cocoa.
Later in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr Ms Derkyi explained that the Cocoa Target project embarked on a 21-day field research aimed at exploring scenarios in which nurseries could be an attractive business opportunity for rural women and youth.
She said field research has used the “citizen science approach” to improve climate and agro-ecological targeting of varietal recommendations and planting material available to cocoa farmers in Ghana.
It determined the types of existing nursery models, the perspective of women and youth and interest in nursery operations and local innovations in nursery / nursery, added Ms. Derkyi.
She said the project was part of a four-year research program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGAIR), seed system development, activation and scaling up of breeding equipment. genetics and propagation.
Dr Ms. Derkyi said project partners include the Royal Tropical Institute, the Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Ghana Cocoa Research Institute and the World Cocoa Foundation. .
She said the findings on the ground were about communities and their perspective on nurseries, developments affecting nurseries, opportunities and gains, challenges and difficulties in operating the nurseries and using them. nursery products and services.
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