A 3-5,000 hectare irrigation farm estimated at US$20million is to be constructed at Babator-Kesea in the Bole/Bamboi District of the Northern Region by the Africa Agricultural Development Company (AgDevCo), a non-profit UK organisation.

The project will be financed by the Department for Investment Development (DfID), UK, and will be jointly farmed by a commercial company and a large number of local farmers with components like a rice mill, storage facilities, inputs, equipment and a technical advice centre to educate the local farmers.

There will be milling and marketing services to ensure farmers get the best prices, as well as a leading commercial farmer who will partner with local small-scale farmers. Tom Phillips, Country Manager of AgDevCo, announced this during a farmers’ field-day held at the demonstration site of Agri-Commercial Services Ltd. at Wenchi.

The objective of the demonstration was to test new and existing maize, soya, and sorghum varieties under good agricultural practices during the rainy season, with supplementary irrigation.

AgDevCo’s mission is to help farmers grow their profit to its maximum potential by developing projects and investing in businesses that improve access to the goods and services farmers need to get better yields and better prices for their produce, Mr. Phillips emphasised.

He said many of their projects in Africa have been successful in partnership with governments of countries like Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi -- thus the invitation of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to mainly develop irrigated rice farming projects in Ghana.

“We have therefore spent six months studying the whole country and have come to realise that one of the best sites is in Bole/Bamboi. The potential of the land and farmers is as big as farmers in any country where we have worked,” he revealed. “The first step is to prove the potential. Every area has its own soils, climate and agronomy and we have set up this demonstration field to prove what is possible. We have also worked with Ghanaian scientists to bring new seed varieties from Zimbabwe and South Africa to supplement the few good seeds Ghanaian farmers have access to,” he added.

Mr. Phillips said the project, when completed, will provide opportunities for large numbers of people living in rural areas to achieve higher incomes by stimulating the development of a profitable and sustainable agriculture sector, adding: “AgDevCo believes that profitable agriculture with strong links to markets is the best route out of poverty for the majority of Africa’s rural population.”