ACTIVITIES DONE BY THE AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT OF SHAMA 2022
PLANTING FOR FOOD AND JOBS (PFJ)
The Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program continues to run in the Shama District. AEAs through the avenue of farm and home visits continue to motivate farmers to adopt certified seeds and fertilizers as well as empower farmers with technical knowledge and skills to maximize agricultural productivity. Thirty (30) bags of 45kg of seed maize were received by the department. The varieties are Obantanpa and Abontem. All bags have been sold. There are chemicals available for farmers who report to control the Fall Army Infestation. They are potent and maize fields recover from the infestation after spraying. The distribution of chemicals done during the quarter was from the stock of chemicals received last year and that of this year as well.
The Department did not take delivery of fertilizers throughout the year. There are no fertilizers available at the Agro-input dealers in the district. This poses a major challenge to farmers who have expressed displeasure as they have to travel further away from their farms to purchase fertilizers.
Currently Three Rice FBOs; Vim Rice Growers Association, Badukrom Water User Association and God will provide Rice Growers Association with the help of the department received (14) hand-held rice harvesting equipment (rice reapers) from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture procured under MAG support. This is helping farmer groups in rice production and post-harvest operations to decrease arduous toil in the harvesting of rice.
PLANTING FOR EXPORT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (PERD)
The department received seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) coconut seedlings from the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) on 10th August 2002 to be distributed to farmers. The total number of beneficiaries was ninety-three (93) out of which sixty-one (61) were males and thirty-two (32) females. Monitoring and supervision of farms of beneficiaries were carried out in the fourth quarter.
Table 4:
| Name of Project / Activity | Beneficiaries | Achievement (Result from intervention) | ||||||
| Male | Female | Total | Youth | Adult | Aged | PLWD | ||
| PFJ | 53 | 14 | 67 | |||||
| PERD | 61 | 32 | 93 | |||||
Source: DAD, 2022
1. 3. 2Collaboration with DP Projects (GIZ, USAID, WFP, JICA etc)
GIZ
The GIZ provided a consultant to develop and web-based Agribusiness database for the Shama District. This platform has been successfully created and data entry has begun. It will help easily identify all agribusiness in the district, and their scale of production and also aid in advancing their course since information on them can be easily fetched. In this quarter also engagements were made with the district assembly together with the web-based developer to analyse the challenges and issues encountered during the entry of data to overcome such complications to ensure progress and development
PYXERA GLOBAL-TAKORADI BRANCH
In the fourth quarter, the department in collaboration with pyxera global organized two training for a total of about 100 farmers, 63 males and 37 females from three communities; Bronikrom, Antseambua and Beposo. The training was on the preparation of organic fertilizers and pesticides. This was a response to the unavailability and high cost of inorganic fertilizers. Again, it is a climate mitigation scheme to reduce the release of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere which is a result of the indiscriminate use of inorganic fertilizers. The other training was on the cultivation of mushrooms to serve as an alternative income for farmers.
COMPASSION GHANA
Compassion Ghana seeks to release children from poverty and provide them with quality education. For this reason, the guardians of the children play a vital role through their cooperation with the NGO to make this mission possible. The leadership of the NGO therefore organised a training for the parents and invited the department to stir up a desire in the parents for farming and train them effectively on how to maximise profit in the farming business. A two-day training was organised in the fourth quarter to equip the parents of the beneficiary children with compassion on crop farming so the parents can be well-resourced to take care of their children as Compassion Ghana complement their support.
FRIENDS OF THE NATION & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION
The department collaborated with NGOs: Friends of the Nation and Environmental Justice Foundation to advocate for enhanced protection of critical mangrove habitats in the coastal areas of the district through the incorporation of local strategies and land use plans in line with national policies on climate adaptation.
ETG INPUTS GHANA LIMITED
The department helped ETG Inputs Ghana Limited advertise their inputs to major input dealers to support their input resource base. Some of their products were fertilizers, weedicides, and certified seeds. They are yet to open a depot in Takoradi where the input dealers in our district can patronize.
METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE
Weather is an important parameter in agricultural activities. The Meteorological Service provided monthly rainfall data to inform decisions on agricultural operations (convenient time of planting, and drying of food crops).
RADIO SHAMA
Communication contributes to getting the activities of the department amplified. With insufficient extension agents to man the operational areas in the district, Radio Shama has been a great help to reach many farmers and the entire populace of the Shama District and even beyond with some key information regarding agriculture. Major challenges facing the Planting for Food and Jobs Program, the Planting for Export and Rural Development, causes of high cost of poultry products in the market and other programs were duly addressed even as answers and responses were given to those that called in during the discussions. Again, this agency facilitated in raising awareness of availability of seed maize and rice at subsidized price for sell at the office.
CALLIGHANA
Callighana in collaboration with NGUSO PAPA and the department organized a training workshop for Vim Rice Farmers, God will Provide Rice Growers and Ohiamadwen Rice Farmers on good use of plant protection products and best practices of application, child labour, climate smart agriculture, financial and group management sustainability. At the end of the training session each participant was given a certificate.
NADMO
NADMO received seedlings such as umbrella tree mahogany mango coconut alvocado acacia royal palm and likes for the Green Ghana tree planting project. The Department took this opportunity to collaborate with them to ensure a successful exercise. Shama secondary school, VRA farmers and interested people were involved in this project. Sensitization on Deforestation and Afforestation was given to the students and the trees planted in their schools and their environs.
CSIR Sekondi
The department together with CSIR set up demonstration plots at Whin Rice Fields to check rice blast infestation on the rice fields. The demonstration is in the beginning stages and results are likely to be ascertained in the 4th quarter.
