More than 10,000 farmers in the northern region are expected to profit from the provision of extension services, following training for about 260 Volunteer Extension Workers to assist farmers on new agricultural technologies as part of efforts to ensure improved yields.

The volunteer extension workers were selected from Mion, Central Gonja, West Gonja, Bole, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba, East Gonja, Yendi, Zabzugu, Tatale as well as West Gonja, and were trained in conservation agriculture, integrated soil fertility management, harvest and post-harvest technologies.

The newly-trained agric extension volunteers are also expected to educate about 10,000 farmers on the right application of fertiliser as well as cost-effective and scalable models for the cultivation of maize, soya beans as well as rice.

“This will enable the farmers to make the best choice after acquiring the knowledge and skills on best practice to ensure increased output of the products,” said some of the participants.

The Volunteer Extension Workers programme is intended to facilitate agricultural extension service delivery in areas where professionally trained extension workers are scarce.

The project is being implemented by the Integrated Agricultural Productivity Improvement and Marketing Project (INTAPIMP) under the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), with funding from DANIDA and Rockefeller Foundation.

INTAPIMP is a three-pronged project that complements the agricultural value chain mentorship project (AVCMP) to achieve the targetted coverage and goal of DANIDA-funded agricultural value chain facility (AVCF).

The Volunteer Extension Workers programme is being implemented at a time shortage of Agricultural Extension Agents (AEA) in most communities of the three northern regions is reported to have led to low production of food crops, amidst rising demand for lands and other resources for agribusiness.

The Project Manager of the AGRA project – INTAPIMP -- Isaac Kankam-Boadu, explained that the volunteers will be required to collaborate with the few extension agents in the regions to help farmers increase productivity and income from their agribusiness.

He said the volunteers will periodically visit the farms to offer technical support, supervise farmers’ field operations and educate them on practical and simple sets of technologies which conserve resources.

“They will also ensure the availability of fertiliser to enable the farmers access the farming input on time to apply at the right time and in right quantities,” he added.

Mr. Kankam-Booadu said an annual award scheme has been instituted to motivate the best volunteer worker during the annual Farmers’ Day celebration at the district level, after a thorough assessment of the volunteers’ performance.