Voices from the field: Kofi Asamoah, Ghana
Sometimes the smallest changes can make the biggest differences.
For Kofi Asamoah, that change was as simple as digging a small hole to place his fertilizer in, as opposed to above, the soil.
The method is called Urea deep placement and it allows the nutrients to be fully absorbed into the soil and thus transferred to the plant. Kofi learned about the technique from FRI’s radio show on Radio B.A.R.
While the radio program is directed at maize farmers, Kofi tested the technique on his okra farm in Yefri, in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.
“I experienced marvellous yield,” he says. “That is why I have now started doing the same thing on my maize farm. From what I can see now, the yield is far, far better than previous years.”
Kofi continues to listen to the radio program, in the hopes that he can learn more in the future.
“The program gives me the knowledge that I need for my fields so that I can get more yield and more money.”
The radio program that Kofi listens to is made possible through USAID’s New Alliance ICT Extension Challenge Fund. This project focuses on using a scalable, integrated suite of ICT-based services to cost-effectively drive behaviour change and help Ghanaian farmers increase their yields of six target crops (maize, rice, soybean, cassava, yam, and cowpeas), thereby improving food security.
