Upgrading Farmers' Knowledge in Africa

Story: Maxwell Adombila Aklaaare

OVER 100 vegetable and plant farmers have benefited from a day's training programme on pests and diseases control in plants in Accra.

The seminar was organized by the Agriculture Extension Division of British-based company, Dizengoff Ghana Limited (DWA), to upgrade the knowledge of the farmers on the various diseases and pests their plants are exposed to, and to counsel them on how to cure or control them from spreading.

It also served as a platform for the farmers to share ideas relating to their profession and get first-hand information on the various agric-related products and services offered by DWA.

The participants were drawn from the Greater Accra, Central and Volta Regions. 

"The idea is to collaborate and impart knowledge to the farmer, be it big or small. We believe that sharing of knowledge is vital to pushing Ghana's agricultural sector forward," the Commercial Manager of DWA's Agriculture Division, Agronomist Mr. Boaz Yagel Ziegelboim, said after the seminar.

DWA is an integrated products, projects and services provider to the agriculture, communication and electro-mechanic sectors in West Africa and has been operating in the country since the late 1950s.

Its services and products to the agric sector, like the others, are encompassing and include irrigation accessories, agro-chemicals, and fertilizers and mechanized farming equipment. “If Ghana wants to develop her agric sector, then irrigation is the way to go," Mr. Ziegelboim noted, pointing to the unreliability of the rain and its impact on agriculture output.

He was optimistic that the farmers will put into use what they learnt to help improve their yields and income, and further stated that the most significant key to successful farming in Ghana is knowledge of modern agriculture. “And this is exactly what DWA aims to do,” he said, “to share this knowledge with Ghanaian farmers and business owners in the sector.”

Some of the farmers also requested that the seminar be replicated in other regions to enable their colleagues to benefit, a request with which Mr. Ziegelboim agreed. He further suggested that those interested FBOs and farmers should approach the DWA management and it will be arranged. He added: "Every agronomist with us is supposed to organize about two to three field seminars a month for farmers; in fact, this has been going on for years. We are now hoping that seminars like this will help augment other seminars and we will do our best to let more farmers benefit,"

The General Manager of the DWA's Agriculture Division, Mr. Yoav Hochberg, and the company's Chief Agronomist, Mr. L.O. Opare, thanked the farmers for coming, and challenged them to put into use the knowledge gained.