Accra, Ghana, May 28, 2020//-Agrihouse Foundation, a leading non-governmental agricultural social impact, capacity building, innovation and project management organization, has embarked on an urban food security mission in Ghana with the introduction of 1House, 1Garden (IH,1G) Initiative.
Why the initiative
The initiative according to its promoter, Ms Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa was inspired by the recent partial lockdown of Accra, Kasoa and Kumasi metropolis as part of measures to contain the spread of the ravaging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.
It is expected to increase the availability of fresh vegetables and other food for urban Ghanaians.
“Agrihouse believes this period presents the most appropriate time for the revisiting of the “Operation Feed Yourself” system of years gone by.
With the growing concerns about food shortages, a personal garden will help fill in the gap”.
Also, the 1H, 1G initiative is to support each household to be more self-reliant, to ensure a great level of preparedness, food sufficiency and security, during this COVID 19 crisis and beyond.
Training
In this regard 70 female student volunteers of the University of Ghana and the KNUST had been trained to further build their capacity in setting up the backyard vegetable gardens for the over 700 households, who had signed up for Agrihouse’s 1H,1G Initiative.
The Deputy Managing Director of Rejuvenate Gameli Global Limited, Dr Gameli Nordor who took the participants through fertilizer application added that the initiative presents a sustainable approach, towards a national agricultural revolution.
This he said would in a short term, impact and transform the country’s socio-economic and environment positively.
While the CEO of Farmhub, Madam Soni Folikumah; Nana Oboadie; and Interplast rep took the student volunteers through transplanting process, soil measuring and mixing, and irrigation setup respectively.
Home to home visit
“The 70 female Volunteers, who will be doing the home to home visit to support families setup their backyard gardens are all female agric students from the university of Ghana and KNUST”, Ms Akosa, who is also the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation told journalists at the training programme.
The over 700 households have currently signed up for the 1st phase of the 1H,1G Project, majority of whom are in the Greater Accra Region.
“Each interested household is being supported with 12 free assorted vegetable seedlings, organic fertilizer, organic crop booster and a simple training session.
The 1H, 1G Project is expected to move from region to region, after the successful completion of the first phase in the Greater Accra Region in adhering to social distancing practices, we have put measures in place not to have more than 20 people at this training session to prevent a breach of prescribed social distancing measures put in place by government”.
Environmental consideration
“Moreover, a lot of environmental consideration went into our planting designs to enhance the beauty of our neighbourhoods,” Ms Akosa said.
For its construction and maintenance, the standards used for the wooden trays, one square meter, is the same as that used for organic cultivation; and recyclable materials shall also be used.
Varieties of mixed vegetables
The varieties of mixed vegetables being offered free-of-charge to households will include small plants (radish, carrot, onion, spinach, beetroot, okra, lettuce); large plants (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant and pepper; and vertical plants (tomato, cucumber, green beans and peas) basically anything you will find at an organic food restaurant.
Interested households are assisted by Agrihouse Foundation’s team to set up these home vegetable gardens, as well as provide training, training manuals and some level of supervision.
In fact, under the three schemes, each household’s initial package will include free 12 assorted vegetable seed packs, free crop nutrition; however, the black soil, the garden structure and garden tools come at a subsidized cost, depending on the scheme one opts for.
Schemes for all households
Schemes have been designed such that, each household; high-end, middle income earner and the lower level income earner, can be a part of it.
Again, Ms Akosa said: “To support in empowering women and creating employment for youth, especially our young women in agriculture, we are engaging selected young dynamic and hardworking female Agronomists and Agribusiness students, about 20 of them, from agric colleges and universities across the country.
Job creation
“By implication, the project will be creating jobs for these youth group, and also other skilled workers like wood-work specialists, masons, landscapers, ornamentalists (decorators), and engineering students.”
While appreciating volunteers and donations so far received from Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Agro Volta, Rejuvenate, Farmhub and Apex 10 Organics, Agrihouse Foundation uses this opportunity to also appeal to the Government of Ghana, private and international organizations to support extend this laudable initiative to deprived communities, the slums, the districts and rural communities.
African Eye Report
