Accra, Ghana//-MTN Ghana today broke ground for the construction of the country’s first Horticulture Centre of Excellence on the main campus of the University of Ghana.
The construction of the GHS3 million centre is a collaboration among the MTN Ghana, Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Ghana, and Defarmercist Limited, a company that provides the best greenhouse and open field farming agronomic support and training services in the country.
The centre is being financed by MTN Ghana. When completed, it will provide modern agriculture training and support for the students of agriculture at the university and young people outside the school.
The centre is expected to train and support 300 young people within the next two years.
Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony at the University of Ghana Farms, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Ghana, Madam Adwoa Wiafe said: The university students are part of this programme but in addition to them, we want to bring people from outside the university.
The university and the Faculty of Agriculture are going to run courses during the vacation for people from outside as well.
So, they will bring them to centre when completed. We are going to have greenhouses and we are also going to have open field farms that they are going to learn from”.
They will bring them here for a period of time-teach them, and support them to start growing and practising what is being taught. Because one of the things that came out today was the fact that when students graduate from universities, people turn to say that they are just theoretical farmers. But we want it to be hands-on with practicals, to be something that they can just go out into the market and begin to produce and earn a livelihood.
Why the centre?
This has become important because MTN Ghana and its partners recognise the need to create jobs for the youth, and agriculture is one of the main support systems for the country and indeed globally.
“We have a burgeoning youth population, and so for us it was an opportunity to have a programme that will train and take some youth out of the streets, train them in modern agriculture techniques, how they can grow crops, and make it a bit attractive to them, and explain the economics of agriculture to them, get them to buy into it, and have their farms”.
What we are going to do is to support them along the way. So, we are looking at the entire value chain. From the training, we looking at a bit of the theory and most importantly practical. We are looking at vocational agriculture and then we are going to support them with plots of land for them to farm, Madam Wiafe explained.
Then through the marketing, the skills that they need to acquire, we are going to train them on all that. And then after that they can be on their own to be able to farm, according to her.
This project has been on the works for awhile. Last year we had a similar programme for rural women, where we took them through digital ways of farming, farm management, among others.
Scaling up
The telecom giant and its partners are scaling it up. This time they are starting with this pilot. At least in the next two years, we are going to have 300 people to pilot and from there we will assess and we will scale up.
“So, it is also to make sure that the vegetables that we grow here. We are growing local vegetables to support the local economy with local ways of doing things so that we won’t bring in consultants or anything from abroad”.
Homegrown programme
This is a very homegrown programme that will train the youth and women, particularly to be able to take up agriculture and to make money out of it.
We want to also dispel the notion that agriculture is something for a certain category of people, that it doesn’t make money, or if you went to the university then it is not for you.
Significance milestone
In her welcome address, Dr Naa Lamle Amissah of the Department of Crop Science of the University of Ghana described the project as “a significant milestone in our journey towards sustainable agriculture and food security in the country”.
Their vision for the centre, she explained is to create a hub of innovation, research and education that would empower students, small-holder farmers, and unemployed youth with the latest techniques and technology.
“By leveraging MTN’s cutting-edge connectivity solutions, we aim to bridge the gap between traditional farming practices and modern agriculture advancements”, Dr Amissah said.
The centre she noted would not only focus on improving crop yields and quality, but also on promoting environmentally friendly practices that ensure that the long term health of the soil and ecosystem.
Through workshops, training programmes and hands-on demonstrations, we will equip our beneficiaries the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in an ever evolving agriculture landscape, Dr Amissah assured.
Gratitude
“I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to MTN for funding this initiative”.
While applauding the initiative, Professor Eric Nartey, Dean of Agriculture of the University of Ghana, said the School of Agriculture of the University of Ghana has been going transformation to augment the agricultural manpower needs of the country.
Charles Agyeman, General Manager of the Defarmercist, used the occasion to explain the project’s architectural drawings to the people, saying that “the centre would transform how we farm in the country”.
