Experts develop plan to produce quality maize

Page 14
15-09-08

A FIVE-year action plan aimed at making the country the leading producer of high quality maize has been developed by a group of agriculture experts.
The action plan (2008-2013) is also to make the country a net exporter of quality maize in the West African sub-region.
The experts were drawn from input suppliers, small and large scale maize farmers, maize stockers and wholesalers, retailers, exporters, extension officers, financial service providers and seed producers.
The plan was developed at a two-day workshop on maize value change organised by an international non-governmental organisation, ACDI/VOCA, contracted by the Millennium Development Authority to facilitate the Commercial Development of Farmer-Based Organisations (FBOs) component of the Millennium Challenge Account(MCA)-funded agricultural development activities.
The MCA Ghana programme aims at accelerating the pace of the processes towards enhanced economic growth and the reduction of poverty. These processes are to be led by agricultural transformation activities in 23 pilot districts.
To address the issue of low productivity, the plan recommended the transfer of technology and agronomic practices to farmers and other actors needed to be intensified, and that the activities required to address the problem of low productivity needed to happen within the period of October 2008 to March 2009.
“Intensification of extention training, including field demonstrations, farmer to farmer interactions and use of mass media to reach large numbers of farmers, will have to be undertaken. In addition, there need to be an enhanced access to agro inputs and farm machinery,” it said.
The plan underscores the need for the rehabilitation of old silos and construction of new ones, coupled with enhanced post-harvest extension activities, and also the need for the provision of post-harvest services such as shellers, dryers and warehousing.
It called for various forums involving farmers and financial service providers, insurance companies and input dealers and stockists, indicating that “there will be the need to intensify financial services and financial management education to farmers and other value chain participants”.
“Formal leases for farmlands, as well as education, on quality standards in the industry and structured transactions involving stockists, banks and farmers will be required to assure farmers’ access to credit in a sustainable way. There will be the need to develop specific financial service products for farmers in the maize industry,” it stated.
The ACDI/VOCA Senior Vice President resident in West Africa, Mr Olaf Kula, pledged the continued support of the organisation.
The workshop was, among other things, to verify the preliminary findings of the maize value chain analysis conducted for enhancing industry competitiveness, facilitate the development of a consensus for a more competitive industry, identify opportunities which would increase the competitiveness of the maize value chain and identify constraints and challenges of the maize industry.