This was disclosed by the company during a working visit by selected members of the Development Action Association (DAA)to the Yara blending unit and warehouse facility in Tema.
The visit was to afford members, who are rural smallholder farmers, the opportunity to see at first hand the processes involved in the production, storage and delivery of fertilizers to farmers. They were led by the Founder and Executive Director of the DAA, Madam Lydia Sasu.
According to the Marketing Assistant of Yara Ghana, Kwame Okyere, apart from the training programmes offered by Yara agronomists to rural smallholder farmers on regular basis,Yara will be giving out free samples of its YaraMila Actyva fertilizer to women smallholder farmers together with technical support for them to apply on their own demonstration plots.This initiative is part of the Yara One Step Forward Programme that will be initiated this farming season.
ˮCurrently, many farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa do not know what fertilizer is and do not follow best practice when it comes to optimal crop cultivation. This is due to minimal access to knowledge; misinformation and low quality or counterfeit fertilizer products which have not brought results and have,in many cases, actually damaged the soil and reduced farmer profitabilityˮ, he stated.
ˮ Yara, being a farmer centric company has initiated The One Step Forward Program to focus on transferring agronomic principles and best practices throughout the growth cycleˮ he added.
He further stated that ˮ the One Step Forward program focus on rural women farmers because of the critical roles they play in the family and community ˮ.
Founded in 1997,the DAA is an association of rural women farmers in Ghana that works to reduce poverty by empowering group members to be self-reliant and to participate fully in their own development. DAA operates in 46 communities with 98% of its beneficiaries being women.
The team were briefed by the HESQ Manager of Yara Ghana, Perin Quarshie on the various processes involved in the receiving of products at the port,the bagging process,transportation to the various warehouses across the country and final delivery to the farmers for application.
They were also shown around the warehouses where various raw materials for the production of fertilizer products were stored. They then toured the blending unit used for the production of blends such as the popular Asaase Wura Cocoa fertilizer.
Some members of the group expressed their happiness at the opportunity to tour the Yara facility.
“It has really opened my eyes and I now know the processes that the fertilizers we use go through before reaching us ˮ says Rebecca Manortey, a member of the DAA.
According to her “I used to think it was a very simple process but now I know better and I think even the price of fertilizer is even low considering the work that goes into producing themˮ she added.
The Executive Director of the DAA Madam Lydia Sasu expressed gratitude to Yara Ghana for the opportunity given them to tour the Yara blending unit and warehouses.She expressed the hope that Yara Ghana will continue to support women farmers in Ghana as well as collaborate with the organization in providing capacity building for its members.
African Eye Report