Month: November 2022

Promotion of Market Oriented Agriculture in Ghana

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Many families in Ghana’s rural areas rely on crops and livestock for their income. Most smallholder farmers are still living in poverty, despite positive trends in global development drivers such as increasing population, per capita earnings, and changing nutritional choices in the urban population. Comparatively less agricultural produce is sold, and fewer farmers attend marketplaces, in rural regions than in peri-urban ones. Poor quality and high cost of inputs, high transportation expenses, excessive market charges, and incorrect market information all work against market participation at the village level. Strategies are proposed to increase the provision of market information and to boost value addition and the availability of inputs in rural areas.

Quality of Agricultural Products of Ghana

The economy of Ghana is the second biggest in all of West Africa. Steady economic development has been the result of political stability and favorable economic circumstances, although it is reliant on just a handful of goods. A lot of Ghana’s agricultural goods are not competitive on the national or international level due to poor production and quality.

Smallholder farmers in Ghana have been responsible for producing the vast majority of the country’s agricultural output. Particularly, they often lack access to resources (agricultural machinery, agricultural input), funding, and marketing relationships. As a result, plant diseases and pests may proliferate unchecked, resulting in a poor crop. The quality of the product is further diminished by inadequate storage and transportation. Furthermore, the supply of high-quality raw materials is inconsistent, and the food processing industry lacks the necessary capital and technical expertise. Mangoes, cashews, pineapples, and spices are among Ghana’s most exportable commodities, but the country is not making the most of its production potential, and the middle class relies heavily on imports because of rising expectations for food quality.

Market Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP)

Using targeted value chains, the Market Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) supports seed and tree nursery businesses, farm operations, wholesalers, retailers, processors, and exporters. All the way up the value chain, product quality improves, earnings go up, and new jobs are created as a consequence.

Improved output and quality are the results of training farmers in best practices and quality standards, as well as the expansion of specialized private service providers. The initiative also promotes inclusive business models that help smallholder farmers sell their goods and earn a steady income. The improvement of manufacturing methods, use of mechanization such as agricultural machinery and farm implements and food safety, as well as the creation and promotion of new goods, are essential goals. By strengthening local communities via capacity training and strong interaction with the corporate sector, MOAP fosters an enabling environment for sustainable investment where the private sector, such as tractor dealers like Tractor Provider, can pour in and provide desired agricultural machinery to smallholder farmers and agricultural infrastructure including irrigation systems, warehouses, and transportation.

Market Access to Smallholder farmers

The agriculture industry benefits from increased market access, the development of new employment, and greater wages as a result of increased productivity and quality in the supported value chains. During times of the year when their stable food supplies are exhausted, the development of high-value cash crops improves the food security of smallholder farmers. Numerous farmers have earned certifications from respected worldwide sustainability organizations. The ability to sell their products throughout Europe and to provide organic standards to processing firms has been made possible by this expansion into new markets. They were able to secure long-term contracts with their biggest customers and price increases of up to 100% after obtaining certification.

Need for agricultural Mechanization

Farmers on tiny plots of land now have a greater need for mechanization as a result of improved access to markets. In order to boost agricultural production, smallholder farmers in Ghana are in dire need of state-of-the-art agricultural machinery. Local areas with favorable agro-ecological conditions for tractor use, where farm implements and labor-saving technology are more appealing to farmers, and where some farmers can afford to invest in tractors would see the greatest uptick in demand for agricultural machinery and mechanization, especially for land preparation.

Role Tractor Provider could play

One of the leading tractor dealers in Ghana, Tractor Provider stocks popular brands including Massey Ferguson tractors for sale and New Holland tractors for sale. Tractor Provider has a variety of farm implements that might be useful to Ghanaian farmers. Due to its usefulness in a wide range of agricultural contexts, such as harvesting, land preparation and land preservation, the usage of such technology may help farmers save time, resources, and money.

Lack of Financing in the Agriculture Sector in Ghana

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Finance opportunities are critical to the expansion of Ghana’s agricultural industry, particularly for the purchase of working capital (seedlings, farm fertilizer, and labor) and fixed capital (agricultural machinery). Due to a lack of available funds, farmers are unable to cultivate as much land as they would want which slows agricultural expansion and has repercussions for the economy as a whole. Banking institutions, rural banks, S&Ls, and microfinance organizations are all active participants in Ghana’s agricultural financing landscape. However, it is becoming more and more difficult for Ghanaian farmers to convince banks to provide financing. They have had several “painful experiences” over the years attempting to convince lenders to give their business a loan.

The agricultural industry is in decline

The agricultural sector of Ghana’s economy continues to decline in importance. It is also contributing less and less to GDP. The contribution of the industry to national growth has dropped by more than half during the last decade. Growth in the sector is hindered by a lack of available capital for the purchase of modern agricultural machinery, chemicals, and seedlings, despite the sector’s high potential given Ghana’s expanding population for domestic consumption and the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area for exports. This is especially difficult for financially strapped smallholder farmers who lack access to essential supplies. Those who have tried to get financing via banks have had their requests consistently denied.

The Trust deficit

The underlying problem is that banks do not have faith in the reliability of local farmers. Mistrust between smallholder farmers and banks creates hurdles for securing loans and credits. Indicators of financial institutions’ lack of faith include the imposition of onerous requirements for obtaining loans (such as excessive collateral, guarantors, a sizable amount of savings capital, and a high-interest rate for agriculture loans), as well as the imposition of lengthy delays and cumbersome bureaucratic processes. Farmers’ access to financing for investments in modern technology and agricultural machinery may be greatly improved by a legislative environment and frameworks that encourage such investments, as with warehouse receipt systems.

The farmers are discouraged by the use of slow loan processing techniques. The inability of farmers to repay loans after experiencing harvest failures or post-harvest losses in an unstable industry is a major source of distrust among farmers. Even with the risk of post-harvest losses, it is still viable to provide farmers with credit based on their repayment potential. Investing in the kinds of cutting-edge technology and climate-smart farming practices that smallholders are seeking is one of the greatest ways to decrease post-harvest losses and infuse predictability into the agricultural industry.

Schemes for providing finance to farmers

To aid farmers, a few programs have been launched, with mixed results. To reduce the inherent dangers of agricultural finance and to encourage more banking institutions to lend to the agricultural sector, the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk Sharing Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) program was launched in 2018. As part of its mission, the aspirational non-bank financial institution was tasked with guaranteeing the loans of other financial institutions that extended credit to farmers for purchasing agricultural machinery, farm implements, tractors and agricultural input, as well as providing those institutions with technical assistance they needed to increase their familiarity with the agricultural industry and proficiency in evaluating and structuring loan applications. The system is a joint effort of the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance, the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).

The group has also been quite good at spreading the word about what it does throughout the agricultural community. The program has made heavy use of social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to inform the general public about its progress. GIRSAL has assisted farmers in the following value chains: horticulture, cereals, tree crops, roots & tubers, legumes, poultry, fisheries, and animals. Although GIRSAL does exist, this in no way indicates that its activities and actions are ubiquitous. In addition to the distrust that still exists between smallholders and banks, there is also a lack of smallholders’ familiarity with GIRSAL and the program’s mechanics. Smallholder farmers are likely to leave the bank empty-handed once again if greater resources and a reinvigorated PR effort on behalf of GIRSAL are not made available, in addition to a complete reform of banking operations.

Conclusion

As of yet, smallholder farmers in rural Ghana have little access to and benefit from agricultural finance. For existing financial institutions to expand their services into rural areas and for new players to emerge, the government must first set in motion the necessary legal frameworks and make the necessary adjustments to the financial sector. Tractors Farming in Ghana might be more productive if farmers had access to the many types of farm implements, tractors, and other agricultural machinery that are available for purchase in the country at Tractor Provider. Massey Ferguson tractors for sale and New Holland tractors for sale, as well as combine harvesters, are among the agricultural machinery that is available at a reasonable price at Tractor Provider.

Smart Farming Solutions Through Digital Development of Botswana

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Smart Farming Solution

Botswana has gone from being one of the poorest countries in Africa to becoming one of the most successful, setting an example for other African nations. To this day, subsistence farming continues to support the majority of Botswana’s rural population and is the country’s primary economic activity. The digitization of this industry has the potential to greatly aid Botswana’s economic development and accelerate the country’s move toward a fully digital economy. Some infrastructure hurdles, including making sure rural smallholder farmers have access to power and the internet, must be cleared before digital applications can be implemented for them. On top of that, smallholder farmers have a tough time doing business on the farm because of their restricted proximity to urban centers, lack of agricultural machinery and other sources of vital supplies. The crux of the issue is figuring out how to get useful technology into the hands of smallholder farmers and then teach them how to utilize it so that the new digital service really benefits those farmers.

The agricultural situation in Botswana

Botswana relies significantly on food imports from its neighbors, particularly South Africa. Agricultural production on the national level meets just a small percentage of the country’s dietary requirements; hence, the vast majority of food is imported. Still, the country’s agricultural sector remains crucial, particularly for the countryside. Agriculture and livestock are major economic drivers in Botswana, supporting the livelihoods of a sizable section of the population. Botswana’s economy relies heavily on its smallholder farming community, which also provides food for many rural families.

Traditional agriculture in Botswana is very vulnerable to crises and inefficient because of the low skill level of the labor force and a lack of resources (such as a dearth of agricultural technology, tractors, farm implements, and combine harvesters). Farmers using the conventional method run the danger of insufficient food security since they usually just grow enough to meet their immediate requirements. They do this over and over again, never reaching their full productive capacity.

Smart Farming

Smart or precision farming is the term used to describe the use of information and communication technologies in the agricultural sector, which leads to the digitalization of this important part of the economy. Mobile phones, sensors, cloud computing, and low power wide area networks (LPWAN) are some of the most essential digital technologies that may be implemented. Large numbers of people in Botswana, especially in rural regions, make their living from farming and raising animals. Smart farming provides these rural farmers with access to information, tools, and markets they would not have had before.

Farmers in Botswana have a number of needs, including access to agricultural machinery and remote farm monitoring and management. The use of electronic ear tags to monitor the location and health of cattle is emphasized. Some kind of technical backbone is required for use of remote monitoring systems. LoRa technology provides a means of implementing remote monitoring in rural locations, in addition to providing access to energy and the internet.

Farmers on tiny plots of land in Botswana face a significant barrier to economic growth: the difficulty of traveling to far-off marketplaces and receiving a reasonable price for their produce there. By facilitating transactions between reliant parties, digital trading platforms may help smallholder farmers sell their products. By using a digital platform, manufacturers may connect directly with buyers, processors, retailers, and consumers, cutting away the need for any intermediaries.

How Smart Farming can be implemented?

The government may be able to play a role in supporting the introduction of new providers of technology and equipment for use in smart farming. The government may have to take the initiative by, for example, importing the first shipment in conjunction with the private company, before eventually handing control over to the latter. The private sector might catch up in a short amount of time with some aid from supply and demand connections, management and finance securities, or tax exemptions. Standardization is an area where governments may have an influence. Local circumstances and, more broadly, quality and the provision of service support may be set criteria for agricultural machinery or the technologies needed for smart farming. Farm output marketing infrastructure regulation and food quality and hygiene standards may also be subject to regulation. With the help of Tractor Provider, farmers can get their hands on reasonably cost agricultural machinery while also increasing their familiarity with ICT via the smart farming initiative. Botswana’s smallholder farmers have a reliable partner in Tractor Provider Ltd. which helps them make a living. Because of the abundance of different types of agricultural machinery, such as Massey Ferguson tractors for sale, New Holland tractors for sale, farm implements for sale, combine harvesters for sale, and other similar machines, Tractor Provider can play a crucial role in mechanizing agriculture and smart farming initiative in Botswana.

Making Mechanization Accessible to Smallholder Farmers of Botswana

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Botswana’s agricultural production relies heavily on mechanization, but it also plays a key part in the industry’s value chain as a whole. Mechanizing agricultural crop value addition, from planting to selling, leads to greater value outputs, sustainable rural employment, lower post-harvest losses, improved quality and the inclusion of smallholders in the market economy. Individual smallholder farmers may not be able to afford the high costs of processing their crops in a sophisticated manner, but cooperative processing enterprises, with the right amount of technical help, certainly can. Enhanced use of agricultural machinery throughout the whole value chain, from producer to consumer, has the potential to dramatically increase output and improve the lives of everyone involved at every stage.

Government Support

The government may provide a hand in a variety of ways, some of which are as follows:

  • By adopting facilitative measures, such as lowering taxes and import fees on agricultural machinery. To a lesser extent, but still, significantly, infrastructure development in rural areas will be of assistance. The government’s concentrated attempt to promote tractors and make them more accessible to more farmers is a significant role in increasing agricultural machinery use; lowering the excise tax is one method to do this;
  • By improving one’s technical and managerial abilities in business via systematic and concentrated training;
  • By using monetary incentives to increase demand. For instance, lending institutions might advertise loans with more favorable interest rates for the purpose of buying agricultural machinery. Distributing electronic coupons for mechanization services to the poorest segments of the smallholder community is another strategy to increase demand for these services in the private sector.

Public sector involvement in the forms mentioned above is essential to a successful mechanization process, notably the provision of cheap loans for agricultural machinery acquisition. Focusing on empowering private sector enterprises will generate employment among the different players in the supply and value chains, but top-down planning (such as attaining a given level of kW/ha in a certain time period) is unlikely to be the solution.

Smallholder Development

Government production subsidies may increase farm family earnings for smallholders. Improvements in cropping systems guidance are part of the robust extension services that have developed in tandem with the rise of mechanization. It is recommended that plots be combined in order to facilitate automation. The trend toward urbanization has opened up opportunities for the sale of land and the development of large-scale estates, while mechanization has helped those who are often left behind to care for the family farm—women, the elderly, and children.

The liberation of markets and the shift away from communal types of farming toward allowing individual farmers to make their own choices have facilitated more mobility and the opportunity to purchase and sell land. More and more, farmers may make use of the internet-based extension service made possible by advances in information technology, which also helps to modernize agricultural practices. The tiers of government responsible for the agricultural extension service start at the national level and work their way down to the township level. The key to fostering agricultural expansion is investing in infrastructure (mostly transportation, but also utilities).

Agricultural machinery in Botswana

The government of Botswana should have a significant role in the purchase of agricultural machinery for subsistence farmers. Spare parts availability and training on how to operate and maintain agricultural machinery are also high on the list of concerns. The following considerations are essential for success in Botswana’s market.

  • The agricultural machinery used, must be simple to both maintain and operate. The ideal system would have straightforward controls;
  • It is recommended that tractor motors use as few electrical parts as possible. Because of their cheap cost, minimal maintenance, high torque, and secure fuel storage, simple diesel engines are often favored;
  • It is important to set up service networks in close proximity to end consumers (a suggested minimum is for 20 service centers per country);
  • It is impossible to have a good marketing campaign without extensive training.

Tractors with four wheels drive are popular because of their increased adaptability, security, and user-friendliness. Moreover, they have access to a wider variety of farm implements. Tractor Provider Ltd. was established to help smallholder farmers in Botswana in affording high-quality agricultural machinery at affordable costs. Tractor Provider Ltd. has provided a much-needed service to the simple farmers of Botswana by making available a wide variety of agricultural machinery, tractors, farm implements, combine harvesters, etc. Farmers are optimistic about the project’s future prospects since they have access to several options for agricultural machineries, such as Massey Ferguson tractors in Botswana, New Holland tractors in Botswana, farm implements, combine harvesters, and more.