By Jones Anlimah
The Chief Executive Officer of TESYD Farms Limited, Mr. Kofi Dzamesi has called on the government to develop a framework to renew farmers thinking towards cashew production in the country.
He also called on the government to create an enabling environment in terms of access to finance and other logistical input to attract people especially the youth into farming and more specifically into cashew production. According to him even though the government has put in place policies to encourage people to venture into the sector, more needs to be done to attract the youth as the majority of commercial farmers in the country are believed to be in their old age.
Tesyd Farms is an Agro-investment Company which is into cashew cultivation in the Volta region. The farms have about 1000 acres of Cashew plantation located at Vakpo in the North Dayi District of the Volta Region and another 850 acres in the Bono Region.
This makes the farm, which started operations in 2018, the leading producer of cashew in the Volta region and also arguably the leader in cashew-producing Farm Company in the country.
The Company has also acquired a 5,000-acre land at Adaklu for its expansion project.
According to the management of Tesyd Farms, the Volta region in Ghana is probably the best place to grow cashew in Ghana and being the closest cashew growing area to the main exit port in the country.
However, cashew production in the region has been neglected to the background with the
perception that there is no market or buyers for raw cashew nuts in the country. A situation, the management of Tesyd Farms want to reverse.
Agriculture contributes to about 54 % of Ghana’s GDP and also accounts for over 40 % of it’s export earnings, while at the same time providing over 90 % of the food needs of the country. This notwithstanding Ghana is not doing so much well in the area of cashew production.
The country’s cashew exports hover around 70,000 to more than 100,000 tonnes annually with an estimated 0.5 per cent share of global export. Government is thus promoting the crop through the establishment of the Tree Crop Development Authority.
The Chief Executive Officer of Tesyd Farms Limited, Mr. Kofi Dzamesi, in an interview with GBC at the farm site, said the crop enjoys patronage for non-perishability among other properties, which makes it a high-demand commodity. “The good thing is that it’s a non-perishable item. Even if you don’t get market for it this year, you can keep it for one year and you will get the market,” He added.
According to him, cashew farming is a capital intensive venture and this seems to drive most people away especially during the intial stages. He, however, noted that the economic gains and livelihood as well as the environmental benefits of the crop make it worth venturing into and encouraged more people, especially the youth to consider it.
“It is very difficult to start and maintain the farm. So far we have spent over 2 million Ghana Cedis on the farm but we know that going forward that money would easily be recouped,” he noted.
Mr Dzamesi is of the view that when given the needed attention and push, cashew could become the next cocoa for Ghana. According to him, the long term project of his Company is to establish a processing plant in the country to ensure that the full benefits of cashew is derived locally. ” Ghana selling raw cashews like this is losing out a lot. So when we start processing we would get the fruit which would give us ethanol, we would get the seed which is chewable and then the shell would be sold to factories to fire boilers.” he opined.
He commended the government for the establishment of the Tree Crop Development Authority, which according to him ensures the availability of ready market for cashew produce and called for support for investors and others along the value chain including the out-growers.
“By the establishment of the Cash Crop Development Authority, it means we are secured that anytime we produce government will buy our produce. So we are secured with availability of the market. For people of our nature, I think government must come to our aid to be able to expand. If we are capable then let us do more. But as I said I have not received any government intervention. I am doing it with my own resources. If government comes to assist then it’s well and good,” he remarked.
TESYD Farms has ten permanent workers and several casual workers on the Vakpo farm site, which has become a source of sustainable employment for people in the area particularly women who claim the right to the harvesting labour.
The farm has a 90-10 percent profit arrangement with the Vakpo Traditional Council, which provided the land. Mr. Dzamesi who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, commended the Traditional Council for prudent arrangement which is helping develop the area into an agrarian enclave.
