Our Experience

Ghana EDAIF Torgorme Irrigation Project (eTIP)

Project Description

ASI and the Torgorme Area Cooperative Farmers Union (TACFU) were jointly funded by the Export Development Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF), an agency of the Ghanaian Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), to help Torgorme co-op members increase their agricultural and business capacity and participate in global horticulture export value chains.

Under this tripartite agreement, ASI provided technical assistance and training to TACFU members to help at least 50 percent of them receive GlobalGAP certification. To ensure sustainability, ASI collaborated with agribusinesses and horticulture input suppliers to conduct training and partnered with Vegpro Group, an international horticulture producer and exporter, to anchor the arrangement as a high-value end-market actor.

Project Approach

To reduce costs and create long-term social and commercial relationships between TACFU and its end market, ASI ensured all activities were carried out in conjunction with our private sector partner, Vegpro Group. ASI managed an on-farm training program supported by Vegpro in which the company dedicated portions of its irrigated production fields for ASI instruction on issues ranging from land preparation to post-harvest handling. Farmers who prepared the land and planted, maintained, and harvested crops in accordance with ASI’s step-by-step training were not only paid for their labor but earned a percentage of the crop’s profit for their farmers union.

This approach reinforced the commercial relationship between Vegpro Group and their producers by providing a monetary reward for the farmers’ application of training to grow quality produce. It also provided a capital base on which TACFU could fund other activities. The goal of the program was to create sustainable commercial relationships and enable smallholder farmers to use their own land as well as their refined knowledge and agronomic practices to produce high-value horticulture that conforms to GlobalGAP protocols and commands a ready market.

Impact and Accomplishments
ASI’s on-farm training program was favorably rated by MoTI evaluation personnel who confirmed the successful training of over 500 farmers. ASI's training reached nearly all of TACFU’s members and imparted the requisite production skills to meet its target of certifying at least 500 TACFU members in GlobalGAP.

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