Sack farming: Ghana’s solution to forest loss

Acquiring land for agriculture and other purposes is one of the most cumbersome experiences people want to avoid.

Family and communal litigation, often characterized by violence, besides the cost, scares many entrepreneurs.

Even when the process is smooth, a piece of land can accommodate just a few crops and acquiring more lands will be inevitable.

From 1975 to 2000, it is estimated agricultural land expanded from 13 to 28 percent of Ghana’s total area. 

About 13 years after this, the number has increased to 32 percent, causing fears that the rate at which Ghana is losing its forest resources makes conservation environmentally unsustainable.

A new innovation of using sacks to cultivate crops appears to be catching up with many Ghanaians across the country.

With sack farming, the soil is first of all prepared with organic pesticide and fertilizer. The sacks are then filled with about 75 already germinated seedlings.

Plants like tomatoes take about 32 days to start fruiting with this technology.

The technology can be used to cultivate vegetables like, carrots, lettuce, cucumber and even tubers like yam and potato.

A non-governmental organization, Organic Food Revolution, is championing the sack farming campaign.

Chief Executive, Akwasi Osei Bobie- Ansah, believes exploring the method is long overdue.

“With a small piece of land you can plant so many crops, this will reduce our search for bigger lands for farming,” he said.

"This can be a perfect model for Government’s planting for food and jobs,” he advised.

Mr. Bobie Ansah is on a nationwide training programme to pass the technology on to over 200, 000 targeted farmers.

He hopes to create opportunities for unemployed persons for first stream income, and second for people already economically engaged.

The prisons could be his next target to propagate sack farming to make them more productive.

 

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