The Alliance for Community Investment Associations (ACIA) promotes the distribution and proper use of agricultural inputs, farmer training, irrigation schemes for rice production and the outsourcing of tractor services for ploughing. The company supports the production of maize, sorghum, groundnut and soybean. ACIA operates mainly in Wa West, Upper West Region, with 1,700 smallholder farmers, of whom 70% are women. Each farmer cultivates an average of 2 acres. With the assistance of the company the smallholder farmers have increased their yields and income. The company joined the MADE programme in 2019 and has aggregated 5,360 mini-bags of maize, 35,000 mini-bags of soybean, 259 mini-bags of sorghum and 210 maxi-bags of groundnuts.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed three Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) and one FEA manager to train and guide farmers on good agricultural practices.
- Supported underserved farmers using extension services from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to offer advice and information to help them increase production.
- Provided demonstrations and training on how to apply fertiliser and pesticides.
- Facilitated relationships with other MADE partners such as EL Balicon, Wabco and Yuoenu Company Limited.
- Facilitated and strengthened commercial partnerships between ACIA and Ghana’s agriculture sector investment programme.
- Facilitated links with tractor service providers.
Impacts
- Enhanced knowledge in good agricultural practices for agricultural production.
- Improved knowledge of record keeping.
- Increased smallholder outreach from 535 to 1,700 between 2017 and 2019.
- Increased ease of access to inputs, credit and markets.
- Improved financial forecasting and farm business planning for smallholders.
- Increased yields from 2 to 10 maxi-bags per acre for all produce.
