Bamvim Chief Presents 10-acre Land For Agric Village
Agrihouse Foundation has received the official site plan for a 10-acre land donated by the Chief of the Bamvim Traditional Area in the Northern Region, Bamvimlana Mahama Abdulai II, to develop an agric village.
The agri-village, upon completion, would serve as a one-stop centre for training and production and the commercial hub for various agribusinesses in the country.
It would have seeds and livestock farms, demonstration centres, conference and workshop halls, stores for agric companies, training and recreational centres.
In addition to these, there would be storage space, processing centres, production rooms, laboratories, and research centres, all to support agribusiness in the country.
The site plan was presented to Agrihouse on Thursday, September 16, at the press launch of the 11th edition of the annual Agrihouse Pre-harvest Agribusiness Exhibitions and Conference in Accra.
In an interview with The Ghana Report, the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, said the agri-village “will in the long term become a state-of-the-art agri-tourism and training destination in the region, providing a home for hundreds of agribusinesses.”
She explained that with the Northern Region being one of the country’s major agric regions with over 97.9% of households engaging in crop farming, the location of the village there would provide easy access to farmers and agribusiness.
In addition, it would provide a strategic avenue for agricultural commercialisation, research and training destination, and numerous investment opportunities to players in the agric value chain.
She expressed gratitude to the chiefs and people of Bamvim for the land on behalf of the Agrihouse team.
Ms Akosa called for more support from corporate organisations to help the foundation undertake the vision of establishing the agri-village.
Presentation
Presenting the document, the Assistant Farm Manager of Bamvim Farms, Haruna Mahama Abubakari-Sadiq, noted that over the past 10 years, the pre-harvest event had been the key event supporting the growth and development of agriculture in the northern parts of the country.
He noted the consistency of the event and said it had linked farmers to buyers including, fertiliser companies, seed companies, tractor and equipment companies, financial institutions, and ICT companies, among others.
“Last year, during pre-harvest event, Agrihouse mentioned the need for land to establish an agricultural training, conferencing and demonstration facility. I quickly called on Agrihouse Foundation after the event and expressed interest to support them towards that cause,” he disclosed.
He said the chiefs and traditional heads in the Northern Region were happy to support the foundation because, over the years, they have witnessed the success the event has brought to farmers and other actors in the agric sector.
Mr Abubakari-Sadiq also stated that they would assist in constructing a modern agric facility as it would support farmers across the country and attract development partners to engender growth.
The Pre-Harvest Agribusiness Conference and Exhibitions
This year’s pre-harvest event is scheduled to open in Tamale, at the Alieu Mahama sports Stadium, from Tuesday, October 19 to Thursday, October 21, 2021.
The event also aims to get the agribusiness sector to influence transformation, with the heightened focus on public-private partnerships, investment opportunities and creating an action-driven blueprint for an increasingly sustainable agricultural movement.
It also seeks to accelerate the transformation of agribusiness in northern Ghana with the government’s initiatives, a vigorous drive by agro-processors to source raw materials locally, a growing band of agribusiness entrepreneurs, and lessons from development partner interventions.
It started in October 2010 in Tamale by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ghana Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) project. It was handed over to Agrihouse Foundation in 2018.
This was to scale the event up and allow for more public and private sector participation and allow for further growth, sustainability, and expansion.
In 2020, the event recorded 3,122 participants and 122 exhibitors, including farmers, traders, commodity brokers, input companies, machinery and equipment providers, transporters, financial institutions.
Also in attendance were ICT and Innovations firms, poultry and livestock companies, packaging and processing companies, development practitioners and government agencies.
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