Better living without chemicals

Asutaure is a lush plain circled by majestic hills and just a few miles to the west of the vast Volta dam. Gravity kindly powers the irrigation channels that make this such a fertile place to grow rice.

The farmers here, helped by the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) and ActionAid, have been experimenting with organic farming. The fertilisers that they used to pile on the land three times a year have been replaced with a single helping of rotted compost and the results have been impressive: yields are up as much as 100% according to rice farmer Akpoica Philip Anumah.

The fertilisers that they used until recently burned the hands and eyes and even got into the food they ate according to his friend and fellow award-wining rice grower Guamah Moses Adimeh. With no safety precautions, these powerful chemicals caused a range of health problems for the farmers. But farmers the world over are a conservative bunch and it was the improved yields that made the most powerful case for switching over.

Looking around the massive rice paddies, as you hear the gentle babbling of irrigation canals, it does not seem a stretch to believe that with a little more help these farmers could grow a lot more and meet Ghana’s huge demand for rice and even export a surplus to its neighbouring countries. Philip for one is certain of it.

While the companies selling fertilisers are powerful and efficient at getting their products to farmers, the compost option is still new and Philip and Guamah are anxious that they will be able to get and pay for the next delivery of compost. Hans Awude from GAWU is hopeful that they can help the farmers here keep up their use of compost.

The farmers of Asutaure are ready to step things up but credit is expensive, interest rates are as high as 28%, and they are anxious to use machines like planters and harvesters. Philip is keen that some of the award-winning farmers here who have pioneered the use of compost get further training and bring new knowledge and skills back to the community.

Hans with an eye on the G20 and Cop summits has a clear message for international policy makers. Africa’s farmers are poor and they need a helping hand to become competitive. Free markets are all very well between equals but that is not the situation today.

Coming back from our visit, Hans confesses that he is personally very excited about the use of compost for rice cultivation. It’s a win-win but getting the message out there is the challenge. Ambassadors like Guamah and Philip can do a lot to spread the word if they get the chance.

Together, ActionAid, the farmers and their union are capable of making great strides. Our resources may be no match for the big agribusinesses but what the farmers lack in resources they make up for in resourcefulness.