Agricultural

Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) Municipal’s agricultural sector is made of five (5) major sub-sectors: food crops, livestock, fisheries, cocoa and forestry. Though, the Department of Agriculture has overall responsibility for the growth of the sector, it is directly responsible for the development of crops and livestock value chains.

The goal of the Municipal Department of Agriculture is to create an environment for sustainable growth and development in the agricultural sector that would ensure food security, higher employment, reduction in poverty, creation of wealth and ensure greater contribution of the sector to the economy.

Key areas of focus for accelerated transformation of agriculture in the municipality includes:

• Improving crop and livestock productivity for accelerated job creation,
• Enhancing competitiveness of the sector,
• Support crop, livestock and poultry development and
• Mitigating and adaptation of the effects of climate change on agriculture.

 

Mission

To develop, promote and sustain agriculture production for food security, employment creation and income generation through effective technical support, extension services and agro-business whilst ensuring that gender and environmental issues are adequately addressed.

Vision

A sustainable agricultural sector to support sustainable economic development and poverty reduction in the municipality.

 

Core Functions of the Department of Agriculture

In carrying out its mandate, the department undertakes a variety of functions including:

1. Provision of extension services in the areas of natural resources management, and rural infrastructural and small scale irrigation in the municipality;
2. Assist in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies for the Municipal Assembly within the framework of national policies;
3. Compile and submit reports on the implementation of policies and programmes to the Municipal Assembly;
4. Advise the Municipal Assembly on matters related to agricultural development in the municipality;
5. Promote extension services to farmers;
6. Assist and participate in on-farm adaptive research;
7. Lead the collection of data for analysis on cost effective farming enterprises;
8. Promote soil and water conservation measures by the appropriate agricultural technology;
9. Disseminate and adopt improve soil and water conservation methods;
10. Promote agro-forestry development to reduce the incidence of bush fires;
11. Promote an effective and integrated water management;
12. Assist and facilitate sustained pasture and forage production and act as out grower to farmers;
13. Assist development of anima health services infrastructure;
14. Facilitate the development, operation and maintenance of livestock water supplies;
15. Assist in developing forage production, ranges and farmlands;
16. Encourage improvement in livestock breeds;
17. Assist in developing early warning systems on animals diseases;
18. Facilitate and encourage vaccination and immunization of livestock and control of animal diseases;
19. Promote agro-processing, packaging and storage; and
20. Assist in the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of small scale irrigation schemes.

 

Units under the Department of Agriculture

1. Crops Unit

The Crops Unit is one of the technical units under the Department of Agriculture. Officers of the unit are responsible for promoting quality information and to determine the appropriateness of technologies for dissemination to ensure sustainable development of the crop sub-sector.

2. Extension Unit

The Extension Unit is responsible for overseeing of agricultural technology diffusion through the management of an extension delivery services in the municipality. The unit is tasked to perform the following functions:

• Review various extension approaches and facilitate in the human resource development at all levels in extension delivery.
• Collaborate with a range of organizations, including NGOs and private service providers in providing extension services.
• Disseminate information on appropriate approaches to all extension service providers.
• Collaborate with other agencies in facilitating the formation, sustenance and management of Farmer Based Organizations.
• Promoting strong research-extension-farmer linkages.

3. Animal Production Unit

The Animal Production Unit is one the five main technical units of the Department of Agriculture. Its responsibility to the public is to promote and sustain poultry and livestock production for food security, employment creation and income generation through effective technical support, extension services and agribusiness support.

    4.Management Information System (MIS) Unit

The Management Information System (MIS) Unit is responsible for provision of relevant, accurate and timely agricultural statistics and information for stakeholders to ensure that:

• Agricultural production decisions are based on objective and realistic criteria and
• Agricultural statistics generated for policy formation, planning, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation are efficiently communicated with the department, Assembly and the general public.

5. Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD) Unit

The WIAD Unit is one the five main technical units of the Department of Agriculture. The vision of the unit is to transform livelihoods and promote the wellbeing of especially women in the agricultural sector.

 

Other Supporting Units

1. Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD)

The Veterinary Section is directly under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and its Officers are responsible for disease control and management. The vision of the unit is to create an animal health system which provides quality animal health services to enhance livestock and poultry production and productivity.

2. Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD)

The PPRSD is one the technical directorate under the MoFA and was established by an Act of Parliament: Plant and Fertilizer Act, 2010 (Act 803). The unit has the mandate and capacity to organize, regulate, implement and coordinate the plant protection services needed for the municipality in support of sustainable growth and development of agriculture.

Agricultural Sector in the KEEA Municipality

Agriculture development in the KEEA Municipality has been regarded as essential for sustained improvement in economic performance and a broad reduction in rural poverty. Agriculture is the backbone of the KEEA Municipal’s economy. Over 70% if the population is engaged in production of food and cash crops, livestock production and fishing. The municipality has an estimated land area of about 372 km² (37,200 hectares) of which about 82% is arable.

The municipality also has a long coastal stretch which serves as a hub of fishing not just for the people in the municipality, but also for many others in the region and beyond.

Farmers in the municipality are mostly peasant farmers who rely on both traditional and scientific technologies in production. Average farm sizes are between 1 and 3 areas. Large-scale farming being undertaken by commercial farmers and institutions is growing steadily in the municipality.

The municipality is sub-divided into nineteen (19) agricultural operational areas.

Crop Sub-Sector

Some of the major crops cultivated in the municipality include; maize, cassava, sweetpotato, pineapple, watermelon and vegetables (okro, tomato, pepper, cabbage and garden eggs).

Cash crop production is gaining momentum and some of the cash crops cultivated include; coconut, sugarcane, citrus, oil palm, cocoa and rubber.

The Department of Agriculture is currently implementing two government’s flagship programmes; Planting for Food and Jobs and Planting for Export and Rural Development.

Production figures for 2019 and 2020

Crop	Area (Hectares)		Yield (MT/Ha)		Production (MT)
	2019	2020	2019	2020	2019	2020
Maize	11,600.00	13,300	2.3	3.03	26,680.00	40,299.00
Cassava	15,208.40	16,600	26.00	26.00	395,418.40	431,600.00
Plantain	542.20	620	8.6	9.60	4,662.92	5,952.00

 

Livestock Sub-Sector

Livestock production has been incorporated into the farming system in the municipality. The animals reared are cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, pigs, rabbits and snails.

Currently, the Department of Agriculture in collaboration with Animal Production Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is implementing Rearing for Food and Jobs programme.

Domestic livestock population in the municipality

Type of Livestock	Population
	2019	2020
Cattle	2,297	2,675
Sheep	12,611	14,800
Goats	48,642	54,500
Pigs	7,603	8,700
Poultry	122,542	158,166

 

Fisheries Sub-Sector

Two main types of fishing are practiced and they are marine and aquaculture fishing.

 

AGRIBUSINESS INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE KEEA MUNICIPALITY

Advantages of Investing in the Agricultural Sector of KEEA Municipality

1. Diverse agro-ecological zones: there is huge potential for cultivation of crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, maize, plantain, coconut, pineapple, watermelon, citrus, sugarcane, vegetables and livestock production.
2. Conducive climate condition: The municipality experiences double maxima rainfall, annual rainfall totals in coastal locations range between 750mm and 1,000mm while in the hinterland, they are between 1200mm and 1500mm.
3. Availability of labour: About seven in every ten people are economically active (67.6%).
4. Availability of water bodies for irrigation purpose: Along the coastal zone is a series of lagoons and wetlands, the largest of which include the Benya, Brenu, Susu, Abrobi and Ankwanda Lagoons. These lagoons support a vibrant salt industry. The slopes and hills are quite steep in the inland areas. In between the hills, are valleys of various streams, which drain into the coastal lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean.
5. Transportation: The Cape Coast – Takoradi asphalt (first class road) passes through the Municipality. There are also several feeder roads leading to all the farming communities in the Municipality.
6. Electricity: More than 80% of the Municipality is connected to the national grid.
7. Communication: The municipality is well connected to the various telecommunication networks in the country. There are four local FM stations and numerous community information centres.
8. Potable water supply: About 85% of the communities have access to potable water.
9. Financial services: A few financial institutions operate in the municipality. They include; commercial banks (GCB, Kakum Rural Bank and Akatakyiman Rural Bank) and microfinance institutions (credit unions and ‘susu’ operators).
10. Considering the closeness of the municipality to the two Regional Metropolises, Cape Coast and Sekondi-Takoradi (Takoradi Habour), it is imperative that targeted government interventions and private investments are undertaken to increase socio-economic development in the municipality to reduce poverty and improve living standards.

 

Why Invest in the Agricultural Sector

• Guarantees food and nutrition security to people in and outside the municipality;
• Jobs opportunities for teeming youth through services and value addition;
• Minimum cost of development;
• Maximum return with minimum investment;
• Minimum gestation period
• Most potent weapon for poverty alleviation and rural development
• Minimum dependence on energy

 

Investment Opportunities in the Agricultural Sector

• Cassava production, processing and marketing
• Maize production, processing and marketing
• Sweet potato production, processing and marketing
• Vegetable (production, processing and canning) and marketing
• Fruits: watermelon, pineapple and citrus (production, processing, canning and marketing)
• Sugar production
• Oil palm production, processing and marketing
• Green house farming
• Coconut, oil palm and citrus nurseries
• Small ruminant production
• Dairy industry (production and milk collection, processing and marketing)
• Pig production and pork processing and marketing
• Poultry industry: broiler, layer and cockerel production
• Poultry and pig feed milling
• Non-traditional animal production: rabbit, grasscutter and honey bee keeping
• Meat Production & Value Addition
• Veterinary pharmaceutical services
• Aquaculture value chain development
• Agricultural mechanization
• Seed enterprise (vegetable seed production)
• Agricultural inputs supply

PROGRAMMES BEING IMPLMENTED IN THE MUNICIPALITY

Planting for Food and Jobs Programme

Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) is a flagship agricultural programme of the Government, with five implementation modules. The first modules PFJ (crops) aims to promote food security and immediate availability of selected food crops on the market and also provide jobs.

 

Tenets of the Programme

• Motivate farmers to adopt certified seeds and fertilizers
• Empower the beneficiaries with knowledge and skills to maximize the benefits of used subsidized inputs
• Improve the marketability of the increased food produced under the programme through:
• Strong linkages among producers, aggregators, public institutions, private food and feed enterprises
• Use information and communication technologies (ICT) for efficient targeting of beneficiaries of the programme
• Stimulate enterprises operating along the supply chains of inputs and marketing of outputs to create jobs and develop technical and human capacities in rural and urban areas
• Overcome food deficits, reduce importation of basic food commodities and increase exports to the neigbouring countries.

Goal

Modernize the agricultural sector of the economy in order to:

• Improve food security
• Create employment opportunities and
• Reduce poverty

Objectives

• To ensure immediate and adequate availability of selected food commodities
• To provide job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth in the agriculture and allied sectors
• To create general awareness for all formal workers and public institutions to farm and establish backyard gardens
• To serve as food import substitution.

 

Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD)

The department through the joint effort of the KEEA Municipal Assembly, Ministry of Local Government and Rural development and MoFA is implementing another government flagship programme; Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programme which was initiated in 2018.

Under this programme, the Municipal Directorate in collaboration with the KEEA Municipal Assembly selected coconut as cash crop for its cultivation and expansion in the municipality.

The department with funding support from KEEA Municipal Assembly supplied a total of 48,480 coconut seedlings to 649 farmers comprising 531 males, 114 females and 4 institutions in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The objectives of the programme are to:

• Increase the cultivation of tree crop,
• Promote rural economic growth, improve household incomes of rural farmers through the provision of certified improved seedlings,
• Diversify the country’s economy,
• Create sustainable raw material base to spur up the decentralized industrialization drive through the One District One Factory initiative

 

REARING FOR FOOD AND JOBS (RFJ) PROGRAMME

The livestock industry is an important sub-sector within Ghana’s economy in terms of its contributions to both agricultural value-added and national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The livestock sub-sectors share averaged 14% of agricultural GDP. Its socio-economic importance in the reduction of rural poverty and as a stabilizing factor of families is well acknowledged. At the household level, livestock plays a critical economic and social role in the lives of commercial and smallholder farm households. The industry fulfils an important function in coping with shocks, accumulating wealth, and serving as a store of value and assets. In the case of smallholder farmers in the rural communities, livestock provides nutritious food, additional emergency and cash income, etc.

Ghana imports over 240,000 metric tonnes of meat (chicken, beef, mutton, etc.) to make up for its meat deficit costing the country over USD375 million annually. The national demand for chicken is about 400,000 metric tonnes and the local production is only about 57,871 metric tonnes, imports account for 180,000 metric tonnes, thus, poultry meat available is 237,871 metric tonnes, leaving a gap of 162,129 metric tonnes.

To address the meat deficit, government is implementing the Rearing for Food and Jobs Programme, which seeks to develop a competitive and more efficient livestock industry that increases domestic production, reduces importation of livestock products and contributes to employment generation and improvement of livelihoods of livestock value chain actors and the national economy.

The Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) Municipality is one of the few metropolitans, municipalities and districts two of the modules; cockerel module and pig breed improvement module.