By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
AngloGold Ashanti, in partnership with the Obuasi Municipal Directorate of Agriculture, has launched an initiative codenamed ‘Community Farming Support Project’ as part of a strategy to diversify the local economy.
About 150 farming households constituting the pioneer beneficiaries of the initiative, valued at ¢500,000 are being supported with agricultural production inputs, technical assistance, and market linkages to cultivate large acreages of maize and vegetables aimed at ensuring food security while transforming the mining enclave into a viable agricultural hub.
The ‘Community Farming Project’ is part of various initiatives being led by AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), in collaboration with the Obuasi Municipal and Obuasi East District Directorate of Agriculture, to revive and diversify the economy of the Adansi traditional area, particularly Obuasi, within the next 10 years.
The project is upscale of the ‘Obuasi Goes Agro-OGA’ concept, which began in 2019 to revolutionize agricultural production as one of the viable alternative sources of employment with a medium- to long-term goal of projecting the area as a major food production enclave in the Ashanti region.
This is to reduce the over-reliance on AngloGold Obuasi Mine as the mainstay of the local economy and source of livelihood so that in the future, in times of eventuality, the people would still have alternative sustainable socio-economic backbone, unlike in the period between 2014 and 2018, when the mine virtually collapsed due to unfavourable national and international factors.
Management of A.G.A. is investing an initial ¢500,000 in support through the reliable supply of agro-inputs like hand-held planters, slashers, sprayers, assorted fertilizers, approved chemicals, and improved planting materials.
The ‘Community Farming Support Project’, which is to be implemented across 20 communities for a start, is assisting 150 farming households in cultivating 200 acres of maize and 25 acres of vegetables, with women and youth being among the focused groups.
The beneficiary farmers will also receive technical support in their production and market linkages to guarantee them sales and income after harvest.
The Ankobiahene of Adansi Dompoase, Nana Akwasi Kotei Mfram, commended AngloGold Ashanti for the commitment towards socio-economic wellbeing of the operational area and asked the beneficiary farmers to appreciate the support through hard work and dedication to the project.
The Obuasi Municipal Director of Agriculture, Raphael Atta Peprah, also commended AGA for its enormous support to agricultural production in the municipality, saying that it is a major complement to the government’s programmes in the sector, which must be taken seriously by the residents.
The Economic Development Superintendent at A.G.A., Daniel Arthur Bentum, noted that the ‘Community Farming Project’ falls under the mine’s climate resilience initiative.
At the project launch, some individual farmers and hardworking executives of the ‘Obuasi Goes Agro-OGA’ farmer-based organisation were recognized and awarded farming inputs and machinery.
The awardees included outstanding women, youth and aged farmers who received wellington boots, slashers, and hand-held planters to motivate them to improve their production level while encouraging other farmers to do better.
