Akuapem Coffee Growers receive training in best farming practices, free seedlings

Coffee farmers within the Akuapem Municipal Assembly have undergone a series of training in best farming practices in order to enhance their skills and knowledge base on coffee production and management.

The training, which was facilitated by the International Trade Center (ITC) Alliances for Action and Ghana Cocoa Board, and the Akuapem Coffee Growers Association seeks to equip the farmers on modern methods of coffee farming so they could diversify and earn more from the industry.

ITC's primary goal, according to Mr. Christopher Tenga, Project Coordinator for the ITC Alliances for Action, is to enhance the competitiveness and productivity of smallholder coffee growers and MSMEs and integrate them into significant domestic and global markets.

He stated that by offering firm level support to the Coffee Value Chain actors in Ghana, the EU ACP Project in collaboration with ACRAM will act as a catalyst to revitalize the Ghanaian coffee industry.

Mr. Roger Fiakpornu, Chief Technical Officer – Cocoa Research Institute, New Tafo, who took the farmers through the training is optimistic, application of the new methods will help the farmers see an increase in their yields.

He noted that, an application of best farming practices by farmers is the surest way to achieve the desired yields and has expressed his happiness of more youth going into coffee farming which was not the case some years back.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Akuapem Coffee Growers Association (ACGA) in Akropong, the founder of the association and CEO of Asili Coffee, a local manufacturing company, John Nana Addo Francois noted that there are a lot of opportunities in the coffee production chain and with the necessary attention, coffee production would generate more revenue and advance the nation’s export promotion drive.

According to John Nana Addo Francois, coffee production is a lucrative business which can offer massive employment to the teeming unemployed youths within the Akuapem catchment area.

“The future is Coffee and we are supporting the farmers with the right technical know-how on planting, harvesting and post-harvest management practices in order to get the needed result,” he said.

Ghana, despite being known worldwide as one of the leading producers of cocoa, same cannot be said when it comes to the production of coffee. This is because the production volume of coffee in Ghana is quite low.

This, the CEO of Asili Coffee said has been a major challenge facing the local coffee manufacturing companies and has indicated his company imports coffee from Kenya and other Africa countries for processing in order to meet demand.

“There is ready market for coffee both locally and internationally. Locally, the demand for coffee has increased because a lot more people are consuming the product. I will urge people who are interested in this project to come on board and I can assure them of making the right investment” he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic, according to the CEO of Asili coffee have had negative impact on coffee production in the country but he was optimistic of a positive outlook in the coming years.

Former MCE for the Akuapem North Municipality, Hon. Dennis Miracles Aboagye reiterated government commitment to support the farmers with the needed resources to expand their farms.

According to him, the opportunities in the coffee value chain if properly harnessed will bring the needed socio-economic change to the Akuapem area.

This year, a total of 90,000 seedlings have been distributed to the farmers for planting.