Harvesting papayas is Lemeul Mantey’s livelihood.
He’s determined to get the best out of his trees, which grow in the farming community of Nsawam, west of the Ghanaian capital of Accra. To get the juiciest fruit, careful planning and preparation is vital.
“If you want to kill the weeds, you put on your knapsack sprayer, put in water and chemicals, take your protective clothes and then spray,” Mantey explains. “You kill all the weeds, that’s the practice.”
Ghana may not produce as many papayas (also known as pawpaw) as Nigeria, but the country was formerly a big exporter of the brightly-colored commodity. These days, it is pineapple which is key for Ghanaian growers, who exported close to 46,000 tons in 2011.
With labor and input costs increasing for those in the agricultural sector, farmers in the country face enormous pressure to sustain their business. As over 53% of Ghana’s total workforce was employed in agriculture in 2013, surviving these harsh conditions is essential for the West African nation. And survival means thinking smart and being business savvy.
“Agribusiness for me denotes the collective business activities that are performed from farm to the dining table,” explains Malindube Kombase, regional director of Mobile Business Clinic. “These involve input supply, the production of food and the actual delivery of food to the end user.”
The group Kombase runs is devoted to helping farmers and other agricultural workers grow their operations by offering training in good business practices.
“Most agribusiness entrepreneurs are not running their companies as businesses, but rather as lifestyle companies,” Kombase says. “Without much vision, without enough corporate governance structures, without proper record keeping systems.”
The biggest problem Kombase sees with agribusinesses is that key decisions are made by the owners without involving their workers. He considers this management structure as a threat to both the growth and the survival of some agribusinesses.
Through its three-month training workshop, Mobile Business Clinic seeks to improve the skills of CEOs, who in turn will have “better access to appropriate resources for growth.” The benefits of working in a collaborative way are stressed to the participants who at the end of the program form clubs to share ideas and support each other.
“Most [participants] are well experienced and have a lot of skills and experience that would be useful for their colleagues,” Kombase says.
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