How this farmer quadrupled her yield
Azara Zackaria grows soya beans on her farm in Ghana’s Northern Region. She recently more than quadrupled her yield. How?
She says that radio was one of the secrets to her success. Tuning in helped her learn to avoid waterlogged areas when planting, to prevent her harvest from mixing with the dirt by using tarpolines, and to avoid burning her fields.
“Before, I didn’t think much of new farming practices,” she says. “But I didn’t stop farming, and now I see I am gaining much more.”
The knowledge and skills Azara gained through radio helped her grow her yield from one and a half bags per acre to more than eight.
While her previously low yields gave Azara enough to help with her household needs, she was never able to pay her children’s school fees or have extra money for emergencies. There was never enough money left.
Now, Azara says she has enough to keep her children in school without relying on her husband or family members.
Still, Azara would like to see her yield and income grow further. She says that currently, farmers are not happy with the prices they get for their produce. In the future, she hopes to learn more about marketing and how to find good buyers.
The radio program that has helped Azara improve her yield is part of the Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer project, made possible with the support of Feed the Future, the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
