Freedom Support Services produces and aggregates agricultural commodities from smallholder farmers for processing industries. It is the largest aggregator and supplier of rice and maize to Agricare Limited, Unity Farm in Dormaa, and GAPA and SONEL in Accra. Freedom Support Services, with the aid of MADE, was awarded best Municipal Crop Farmer of the year 2019. The company provides its out-growers with agro-inputs on credit (payment is effected after harvest) and services such as ploughing and threshing. Freedom Support Services works with 400 smallholder out-growers (of which 30% are women) in three districts, with each farmer cultivating an average of ten acres. Freedom Support Services joined the MADE programme in 2017, and from then to 2019 aggregated 150,000 MT of maize and 100,000 MT of rice.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed four Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs).
- Introduced insurance for farmers.
- Supported underserved farmers using extension services agents from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to train farmers and monitor their fields.
- Carried out demonstrations and training on how to apply fertiliser, coupled with harrowing and ploughing.
- Facilitated relationships with other MADE partners, such as Agricare Limited, which buys maize and rice in very large quantities from the company.
Impacts
- Increased smallholder outreach from 160 to 400 between 2017 and 2019.
- Increased smallholder access to agricultural inputs, credit and markets.
- Increased understanding of good agricultural practices and proper application of agro-inputs through training and demonstrations carried out by the FEAs.
- Facilitated timely application of inputs (fertiliser and weedicides).
- Improved financial forecasting and planning for smallholders.
- Increased yields for smallholder farmers from 10 to 20 bags (50 kg) per acre for maize and 15 to 30 bags (50 kg) per acre for rice, between 2017 and 2019.
