EU/FAO/MOFA SUPPORT FARMERS AGAINST POST-HARVEST LOSSES 29th OCTOBER, 2025


The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region, Hon. Stephen Aeke Akurugo has commended the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Union for providing critical farming support services and equipment to farmers throughout the food production chain. This commendation was given in Paga when the DCE joined the Authorities of the Department of Agriculture to present 12 grain threshers with accompanying spare parts, repair tool kits and other accessories to 12 farmer-groups from selected communities across the district.

Hon. Akurugo (in Smock) Making The Presentation

Hon. Akurugo disclosed that the package was made possible through the benevolence of the FAO of the United Nations in partnership with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture under an EU-funded project known as the European Union Food Security Response in Northern Ghana. In presenting the equipment, the DCE explained that this will enhance the accessibility of threshing services by all project beneficiary farmers in a sustainable manner. Additionally, it will help fast-track the threshing of farm produce such as maize, rice and millet cultivated widely in the area, curtailing post-harvest losses and also ensuring food security in the district.

The DCE noted that it would have cost the rural poor farmers several thousands of Ghana Cedis to procure the threshing machines on their own and thus cautioned the beneficiary farmers to keep a regular and timely maintenance regime to prolong machine life which would then send the right signal to the benefactor-organizations to want to send in more of such support for the benefit of additional farmers in the area.

District Director for the Department of Agriculture Mr. Mohammed Bukari, in his remarks, revealed that under the project, the model of operation for now is to hire the threshing equipment to farmers for the season at a small token to sustain its maintenance. This will be supervised under the farmer-leaders, Agric Officers and FAO Field Technicians giving supervision and technical support to the operations of the equipment. During a brief engagement after the presentation, he cautioned the farmers that the success and possible expansion of the intervention depend on them, stressing, “the lessons learnt in this model would inform future strategies going forward, so let us do well to document useful experiences as we operate the machines”.

Agric Dir., Mr. Mohammed Bukari
Mr. Bukari gave a breakdown of the package that each framer group was taking home as follows: a Multipurpose Grain Thresher, Grains Moisture Meter and Purdue Post Harvest Bags (PIC) as well as a quick-fix tools box and some spare parts. He also mentioned some guidelines to be adhered regarding operating the threshing machines in all 12 communities including MoFA DDAs being responsible for the upkeep, security, cleaning, repairs, servicing, deployment, maintenance, and replacement of the equipment while the equipment shall be kept by the Agric Extension Agent (AEA) of the area under the supervision of the FAO District Field Technician (DFT). Also, the equipment shall not be deployed for use without the knowledge of the FAO field technician and the AEA in charge of the community.

The Agric Director explained however that under the intervention, the token-service charge for threshing grains is scheduled such that when a farmer threshes 10 (100kg bags) that farmer donates 1 (100kg) bag; threshing 10 (50 kg) bags, one donates 1 (50kg) and for threshing of 10 (bowls) donate one (1 bowl). He emphasized that the model prohibits cash payments as replacement for the donation of the prescribed quantities of grains per each threshing session.   

A Farmer Tested One Thresher at the Grounds
 

Mr. Francis Asebuga from Kajelo-Biba spoke on behalf of his colleagues and expressed gratitude to the EU for extending funding to the implementing entities, noting that the machines had arrived at the right time and would take off a huge financial burden on farmers, as they had over the years been procuring such threshing services from private entrepreneurs at cut-throat charges.

Mr. Asebuga pledged that he and his peers will go strictly by the set guidelines in order not to jeopardize the good prospects the projects brought to their doorsteps. Some of the communities the beneficiaries hailed from include Kazugu, Badunu, Katiu-Saa, Kajelo, Nabio-Batio and Gumongo among others.

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