By Ewoenam Kpodo
Hatsukope (V/R), March 6, GNA – The St. Paul’s Senior High School and Minor Seminary (SPACO) will in the near future feed its students and possibly, others in the Ketu South Municipality with produce from its farm.
The school currently cultivated cassava and vegetables, including chilli pepper on an acre and half land under a non-governmental organisation, Governance Africa Foundation’s (GAfF) Schools and Homes Agriculture Revival Programme (SHARP) initiative.
The SHARP initiative, being piloted at SPACO, was designed to engage students in agriculture by integrating it into educational curriculum and extracurricular activities, aimed at instilling values of responsibility, entrepreneurship, and environmental consciousness among them through civic clubs established by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in schools.
Speaking at the official ceremony, Mr Emmanuel Hope Kwodwo Dogodzi, SPACO Headmaster, thanked GAfF for the significant step it had taken by collaborating with Interplast Ghana Limited among others towards bolstering the initiative, which he said started in the school some two years ago.
He said the school through the programme, got cassava dough and bags of “gari” (which processing was outsourced) from the cassava plantation, part of which went to the kitchen to feed the students and to the market for sale to generate some revenue to run the school with.
Mr Dogodzi noted that despite this achievement, there was the challenge with water for an all-year round farming, hence lauded the collaboration with the pipe manufacturing company which had now helped in providing irrigation solutions on the farm.
He expressed hope that with one of their biggest challenges surmounted and in anticipation of other supports, including technical, the farmland would be expanded and with improved yields, enough to feed the students and possibly, others in the municipality.
Mr Kafui Agbe, Ketu South Municipal Director of Agriculture, pledged his outfit’s readiness to lend technical expertise for the success of the programme for the school to reap the benefits and encouraged them saying, “Through SHARP, let’s be sharp and feed our sister schools in the municipaity.”
Ms Doreen Baaba Asante, a representative from Interplast Ghana, said the company was excited to join the SHARP initiative to train young ones on irrigation farming to advance agriculture in the country, noting Ghana with all its suitable climatic conditions must not be importing foods that could be produced locally.
Mama Hodzige II, Municipal Director, NCCE said the students should take the programme seriously to impact their future, noting agriculture was the backbone of any economy and society and that none could do without agriculture.
Mr George Odamtten, Founder, GAfF in an interview with Ghana News Agency, said the 20-year-old organisation, which aims to promote democracy, peace and understanding in Africa, achievable through the education of Africans with the knowledge of the constitution, is a strong advocate for youth empowerment.
He noted that SHARP had been extended to Afienya SHS and that there were plans of establishing model farms in all 16 regions to serve as practical learning centres where the youth could gain the right experience in modern agricultural practices and techniques thereby enhancing their entrepreneurial capabilities.
Master Prince Dugah, one of the students, told GNA that he learnt a lot from SHARP and was hopeful of its impact on his future after school.
The day saw some presentation of certificates of honour to some deserving individuals and companies, launching of pocket-sized constitution books and, ended with a visit to the school farm.
GNA
MA/CA