New Motor-Tricycle Video Technology For Farmers in Ghana

Two Ghanaian organizations have developed a technology to educate farmers under Ghana’s Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) component of the Agricultural Value Chain Mentorship Project (AVCMP). The innovation called motor-tricycle video technology comprises of a projector, generator, projector screen, microphones and a video player arranged in a motor-tricycle, and was developed by the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) and Countrywise Communication, Ghana, as one of the channels being used to educate farmers. So far, 7,000 farmers from the Tolon and Central Gonja Districts of Ghana, as well as the Tamale Metropolis have been educated on best practice lessons on good soil fertility practices in the local dialect. Mr. Mohammed Issa Seidu, a farmer told the Ghana News Agency at the weekend that the video dramatized two farmers who used different farm practices and soil technology and the results at the end of farming season. “The video taught me that most of our lands are not too fertile so we need to adopt new technologies to get good yields,” he said. Mr. Seidu observed that to get high yields did not mean one should cultivate a large scale as perceived but high yields depended on best farming practices. Dr. Wilson Dogbe, Head of Rice Research and Development Programme at SARI explained that the ISFM is a component of AVCMP initiative, aimed at contributing to Ghana’s government’s objective of achieving food security and developing the region’s agricultural sector into an agro-industrial economy. It is also to transform the agricultural value chain into a highly productive, efficient, competitive and sustainable system by strengthening the capacity of agro-dealers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and farmer-based organizations (FBOs). Funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) through the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, the three-year project is targeting 34,000 smallholder farmers and being implemented by IFDC, the Ghana Agricultural Associations Business and Information Center (GAABIC) and the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI). Dr. Dogbe said as part of the ISFM component, it had developed other farming technologies, which needed to reach farmers to enhance productivity, hence the development of the tricycle motor video technology. He said 123 demonstrations of the ISFM technologies were conducted, adding that, 40 of Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture staff had been trained on 10 technologies whilst some 1,500 farmers have been directly reached with the demonstration. Madam Issa Mamunatu, 30, farmer at Worribogu-Kukuo in the Tolon district told Ghana News Agency A in an interview that her yield for rice increased to over 100% due to the adoption of the best practice on soil fertility technology, she learnt from the demonstration farm. She, however, complained about high cost of inputs such as fertilizer and certified seeds despite the government subsidy.