MiDA Turns Peasant Farmers Into Businessmen

By Samuel Boadi

EFFORTS BY the Government of the United States of America (USA) to assist poor people in third world countries through its Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) has started producing results in Ghana.

Under its agricultural production and value-added development project, MCC Ghana has been able to affect the lives of 52,000 smallholder farmers out of a target of 60,000. “Since March 2008, over 47,000 farmers have received free technical and skills training by specialist technical training service providers drawn from private sector institutions.

Each farmer has received and worked with $230 worth of inputs as starter pack,” Martin Esson-Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer of MiDA told journalists in Accra Thursday.

MiDA has at the end of 2009, committed 67 percent of compact funds and re-disbursed 23 percent through the Bank of Ghana. This represents $367 million and $127 million respectively.

MiDA is in its third year and is on course to fully exhaust the entire programme budget within 5 years.

According to Mr Esson-Benjamin, the compact has undertaken 10 major irrigation projects spread across certain parts of the country to irrigate some 5,000 hectares of land for an all-round farming. This is expected to facilitate new investments into large-scale rice and vegetable production in the Northern and Eastern regions.

Among other things too, the MiDA is at an advanced stage of providing post harvest handling and value-chain infrastructure. “As a first phase, a grant of $2.1 million has already been given to some 7 nucleus farmers under the Sea Freight Pineapple Exporters Group (SPEG) to install on-farm pre-coolers, cold storage and new pack houses to boost pineapple production and exports.

In addition, three communal pack houses in Akorley to serve the mango growing areas of the Eastern Region and in Mariakrom and Otwekrom in the Central Regions to support the pineapple industry, would be constructed for use by the first quarter of 2011.

MiDA is also engaged in the process of constructing at the Kotoka International Airport Perishable Cargo Centre, an international standard packing and cooling facility for the packing and storage of fresh agricultural produce, destined for the competitive export markets. It is funding the construction of 18 private-sector managed agribusiness centres (mainly small-scale grain storage facilities) across some three zones.

MiDA’s agricultural projects are spread over some three intervention zones - Northern Agricultural Zone (which covers certain 5 districts), Afram Basin (which comprises 9 districts) and the Southern Horticultural belt (which involves 16 districts).

Indeed, Ghana’s $547 million compact is already increasing the production and productivity of high-value cash and food staple crops as well as enhancing the competitiveness of Ghana’s agricultural products in regional and global markets.

“Our focus is on the smallholder farmer, whom we intend to transform into a businessman,” Mr Esson-Benjamin emphasised.

In the area of rural services development, MiDA is engaged with the Ministry of Energy to extend an estimated 230 kilometres of power to deserving plants, nucleus farms and agribusiness centres spread across the 3 selected zones aforementioned for domestic and economic use (food processing and irrigation). The programme will further install twelve transformers to boost power supply to deserving communities.

Also, there contract to equip, computerise and automate substantially all the 121 rural banks and their agencies, using a common software platform is going full steam.

“We are ready to award work contracts for 123 small town water systems, 6 pipe extensions, 156 boreholes and the extension of the Tamale Water System from the Dalum Water Works in Tolon Kumbungu, through Savelugu-Nanton to the Tamale Metropolis covering 67 kilometres.”

There are 534 educational facilities ranging from 3-6 classroom blocks, teachers’ accommodation, sanitation facilities which are at various stages of implementation from the MiDA budget. These would be completed before the end of 2011.

With two years left to draw the curtain on the programme, MiDA can boast of having done 80 percent of its job. About $109 million still remains to be utilised by the authority to pursue projects but there could be a second chance for Ghana should MiDA perfectly complete its projects.