The Ashanti Regional Department of Food and Agriculture is collaborating with Rejuvenate Gaia Global, licensed importers of Greenfert organic fertilizer to embark on demonstration farms, using the company’s organic fertilizer to scale-up government’s ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ (PFJ) initiative.

The partnership is expected to positively impact farmers in all 27 districts across the region to improve food production and to deepen the success of the PFJ.

At a training programme in Kumasi, to apprise some district directors and their crop officers, agrochemical dealers and distributors on the benefit of using Greenfert organic granular fertilizer, the Ashanti Regional Director of Agriculture, Rev. John Manu, stressed the need for farmers to embrace the use of organic fertilizers in farming.

While, he admitted that the purpose of the training programme was to promote the use of the Greenfert organic fertilizer among farmers in the districts, Rev. Manu explained that the quest for healthy living and sustainable food production has become a top agenda for government in food production.

“More and more people are becoming aware of their diet and the need to go organic. Ghanaians are vising the big malls every day to patronize organic products. And that sends a strong message to our farmers to adopt same farming methods in order to compete here” he said. At the start of the PFJ in the region in 2017, 20,000 farmers participated in the programme. The number as of August 2020, has exponentially increased to 218,000 farmers.

“About 50 percent of these are vegetable farmers who rely on organic products and that is why this partnership to use Greenfert is very important” Rev. Manu noted.

He added, “Organic fertilizers are made of plants or animal waste and added minerals, which makes them safer to use in crop farming and safe for the environment and pets. In this vein, I would encourage all district directors of agriculture in the region, to help with introduction of Greenfert organic granular fertilizers to farmers since we all know the benefits.”

Rev. Manu noted that Rejuvenate in the coming weeks, would sponsor the various districts to use Greenfert on demonstration farms in order to promote and deepen awareness of the benefits of the fertilizer.

Organic fertilizers help to enhance soil health by nurturing soil microbes that helps make soil nutrients available for plants. Organic fertilisers also have the ability to improve water retention and this helps to keep minerals in the soil.

Managing Director of Rejuvenate, Mr Randolph Obeng Frimpong, expressed appreciation to the Regional Department of Agriculture for the partnership and said over 10,000 metric tonnes of Greenfert is available for farmers in Ghana on annual basis.

He said the company, apart from the PFJ subsidized rate of GHc46, Rejuvenate is further offering its own discounts up to GHc35 on each product of Greenfert till the end of year.

“With the backing of MoFA and other stakeholders through the PFJ, Rejuvenate is set to establish vital footprints nationwide to strike partnerships with farmers on the need to embrace organic farming which is the best practice” Mr. Obeng Frimpong said.