Accra, Aug.08, GNA — Yara Ghana is working alongside smallholder farmers and trusted partners to secure high-quality fertilizers that will strengthen Ghana’s national food security and deliver lasting, positive impact to farmers.
The programme, dubbed: “Grow Ghana,” will provide Ghanaian farmers with free bags of YaraMila Actyva as part of a package, effectively reducing the smallholder farmer’s average fertilizer cost by one-third.
The goal is to help smallholder farmers have access to enough affordable fertilizer to sustain food production, and to feed over one million people across the country.
In that regard, Yara Ghana took delivery of 18,000 metric tons of high-quality YaraMila Actyva fertilizer at the Port of Tema.
The Norwegian multinational agricultural company, which has been established in Ghana since 2007, is committing USD 20 million to supply these fertilizers to local farmers.
It is expected to benefit 100,000 productive smallholder farmers and help enhance the country’s food security.
The war in Ukraine has compromised global access to affordable fertilizers, hindering farmers’ ability to feed their communities and threatening food security around the world.
This impacts smallholder farmers directly, who need to apply crop nutrients in the form of mineral and organic fertilizers to their fields.
If farmers cannot access reliable and affordable supplies of fertilizers, this will result in reduced yields and higher risks to local food production.
Ultimately, the issue could impact food supplies, leading to larger numbers of people slipping into food insecurity.
Mr Luis Alfredo Pérez, Yara’s Senior Vice President for Africa, said market-based solutions were the most effective response to strengthen Ghana’s national food security, and would have a better chance of delivering sustained impact for farmers.
He said the global geopolitical situation and macroeconomic indicators suggested that the current global food supply challenges may persist for some time.
Mr Pérez, therefore, said Yara was committed to multi-year responses and would adopt a medium to long term approach to strengthen the enabling environment in key markets.
“We hope to continue this project for at least three consecutive farming seasons,” he added.
Mr Danquah Addo-Yobo, Yara’s Regional Director for West Africa, said the “Grow Ghana” initiative brought a market-systems development approach to help productive smallholder farmers build resilience and sustainability.
He said it would help them contribute to national food production.
Mr Addo-Yobo said the initiative had the potential not only to avert food insecurity across Ghana but also to catalyse a larger, continent-wide commitment to increase food system resilience, grow food security, and prevent hunger for 60 million people in Africa.
Founded in 1905 and headquartered in Oslo, Yara International ASA is the world’s leading crop nutrition company and a provider of environmental and agricultural solutions. The company has 18,000 employees and operations in more than 60 countries.
Supporting Yara’s vision of a world without hunger and a planet respected, the company pursues a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting climate-friendly crop nutrition and zero-emission energy solutions.
Yara’s ambition is focused on growing a nature positive food future that creates value for its customers, shareholders, and society at large, and delivers a more sustainable food value chain.
GNA