Many smallholder farmers, especially in rural areas, have struggled for years to access farm technologies. And those most disadvantaged are women farmers. For many farming communities, access to tractor services has always been a struggle. As a result, the unavailability has forced many farmers to rely on ineffective ploughing services by tractor owners, which poses a threat not just to soil health but also to the output of crops.
As part of our initiatives under the Appropriate Technologies for Microenterprise project, URBANET has, for the past two years, supported smallholder farmers within the Tolon, Kumbungu and Central Gonja districts with efficient farm tools/technologies to enable their farming. This is part of the efforts to ease farm burden and promote sustainable agricultural practices through its agroecological principles.
This season, to widen our scope of relief, URBANET has provided smallholder farmers in the Kumbungu and Tolon districts with some farm technologies, amongst which is a Power Tiller, to ease the difficulty with regard to access to tractor services. Among the reasons for providing these power tillers is to promote zero or low tillage farming. This will also foster sustainable farming and motivate farmers to adopt farm practices that are resilient and protect the environment. To ease and maximise usage, some selected farmers are given practical training on how to operate these machines as well as access to the producers of these technologies.
To ensure the sustainability of these tools, URBANET is, through the community-based agroecological committees, providing the needed support and guidance on how to maintain them as well as devise ways of procuring these technologies themselves.