Stephen Odoi-Larbi
2 December 2008
Recognising the importance of high-quality seeds, fertilisers and crop protection products in raising productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers, the AGRA and IFDC on Tuesday launched the Ghana Agro-Dealer Development (GADD) project, to increase the use of modern agricultural inputs.
The US $2.5 million program, which was officially launched by Mr. Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Ghana, would assist over 2,200 agro-dealers whose activities would then foster an increase in productivity, and incomes of over 850,000 rural smallholder farmers.
The agro-dealer shops would be brought closer to the farmers - making seeds and fertilisers more available and affordable in the remote rural areas.
"Nothing is more urgent than ensuring that farmers have access to the inputs they need to increase farm productivity. Agro-dealers have a major role to play to make this possible," said Dr. Namanga Ngongi, President of AGRA.
Ghana's smallholder farmers must significantly increase their use of improved seeds and other modern inputs, to increase their yields and incomes. Current input use averages only 10% of the recommended levels, and the agro-input marketing system is underdeveloped.
To increase their ability to serve farmers effectively, agro-dealers would be trained in business skills, safe handling and use of modern technology. At the same time, they would be linked to seed and fertiliser suppliers.
To ensure that shop owners stock up and to expand operations into rural areas, GADD would also provide a half-million-dollar credit guarantee, to cushion commercial banks against losses, and make more funds available to agro-dealers.
When a similar scheme was adopted in Malawi, each dollar invested in a credit guarantee for the agro-dealers, leveraged sixteen dollars worth of farm inputs into rural areas by seed and fertiliser companies.
"The sustainable supply of good quality seeds is an important ingredient for increasing farm productivity in Africa," says Joe DeVries, Director of AGRA's Programme for Africa's Seed Systems.
"This new intervention in Ghana complements AGRA's existing investments in training a new generation of plant breeders, funding for breeding teams, support for seed multiplication by local seed companies, and collaboration with other partners to improve the regulatory framework for seed and fertiliser markets. The project will also stimulate competition - essential for reducing market failure," he added.
AGRA, working with IFDC-Ghana, and the Ghana Agricultural Associations Business Information Centre (GAABIC), would invest in capacity-building and training to strengthen the technical and business knowledge of agro-dealers.
Additionally, the partners would build and support already established trade associations, assisting agro-dealers access to investment finance for business development, through risk-sharing arrangements. Shop owners would also be trained in methods of providing field demonstrations and soil testing, thereby transforming them into providers of basic extension services, and creating an invaluable source of knowledge and advice to farmers.
"We are really fortunate to be partners," says Juliet Biney, Executive Secretary of GAABIC. "This is an opportunity for us to build the centre into a viable service-providing entity, to better serve our farmers and agro-dealers."
"It is an exciting project," says Dr. Kofi Debrah, IFDC Representative in Ghana and Regional Manager of the Millennium Development Authority's (MiDA) Northern Intervention Zone. "The prospect of building on our previous training project is a real opportunity to help Ghanaian agro-dealers provide the essential inputs and services needed by smallholder producers to increase productivity."
"The project's goal is to increase availability, accessibility and affordability of quality agro-inputs in rural areas, and we, as a government, will provide the regulatory framework through the passage and implementation of the seed, fertiliser and crop protection laws in Ghana," said Mr. Ernest Debrah.
This program is part of the initiative to build a new era of seed dissemination in West Africa, where AGRA is actively building capacity of both the public and private sector, to ensure an active movement of inputs to reach remote rural farmers.
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent, to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger.
AGRA programmes develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor, while safeguarding the environment.
AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain, from seeds, soil, health and water, to markets and agricultural education.
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