Mepom (Central Region) – Mrs Diany Nartey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Total and Quality (T&Q) Farms Company, has asked young people not to despise farming but to embrace it wholeheartedly, describing it as very lucrative.
Mrs Nartey made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), at a ceremony to commemorate this year’s District Farmers Day at Mepom in the Upper West Akim District.
The event under the theme: “Accelerating Agriculture Development through Value Addition”, brought together Chiefs, Queen mothers, farmers, and residents of the community.
Mrs Nartey emerged as the first Runner-up to become the first female farmer to win such an award in the district.
Her farm, located at Krodua, a community in the district has a coconut plantation as its main product and other crops such as maize, plantain, cassava, and beans farming. She is also into snail farming and home gardening and has employed about 40 workers both permanent and casual.
Venture into farming
She explained that that agriculture was one of the powerful tools to end extreme poverty, and two times more effective in raising income as compared to other sectors, saying, the youth particularly, must embrace it to be self-sufficient and dependent in life, instead of migrating to the urban centres to chase for non-existing white coloured jobs.
She noted that the decision to venture into farming was a result of a radio programme she and her husband listened to, which sensitised people on the benefits of agriculture and encouraged them to embrace it to help improve their livelihoods.
She said, after the programme, they had a discussion and through the recommendation of a friend acquired a 45-acre land at Mepom where they were currently working.
“After our decision to go into farming, we proceeded to the University of Ghana’s Soil and Crop Science Department for advice and that actually helped us a lot,” she stated.
Mrs Nartey revealed that going into crop farming, the institutional support and more research into resistant species, production, capacity building, equipment, digitalisation, and market development helped the company to contribute more to the sector.
“By my example, I believe other sector players, particularly young women will begin to look at engaging at the various levels of the value chain such as boosting production, processing, food chain, haulage, storage, marketing, cosmetics, and branding. The value chain has immense prospects for the country, the Sub Region and on the global market,” she added.
Chief of Mepom
Nana Baffor Adjei III, Chief of Mepom who chaired the event interacting with the GNA saluted farmers for their continuous hard work to feed the country and expressed appreciation to the organisers for selecting his community to celebrate farmers in the district.
He indicated that farming was a business that when well embraced, could change lives, and urged the public to eschew the notions that it was for the uneducated.
Nana Adjei stated that Mepom is one of the oldest towns in the district but had been neglected of many social amenities including the town’s inner roads which were in a deplorable state, inadequate health facilities with only one ward serving both males, and females, children, and pregnant women and called for support.
He also appealed to the District Assembly to construct road ramps on the highway from Adeiso through Mepom township to stop the rampant knocking down of people when crossing the road.
