Mercy Sampomaa Boateng, 31-year old Engineer-turned Crop and Livestock farmer, has noted that irrigation system of farming is the way to go in Ghana.
Sampomaa Boateng who owns 180 acres of land noted that this method ensures all-year farming because the overreliance on rainfall to grow crops is drastically reduced.
Six years ago she started her Okauni Farms.
A switch from part-time engineering job to full-time agribusiness has been fulfilling, she said while sharing her story as part of a Mastercard Foundation partnered Media General’s initiative to celebrate young women in Agriculture.
“With my farming I do everything beautiful and nice, everything is sophisticated but I try to veer off what is supposed to be the norm. Because ideally, for most of the time the things that I wanted to do you will always be told that you can’t do that here because that there is a certain period that you can only grow some plants.
“But what I have realized over the years is that one thing that is very important when you want to grow plant or do farming is irrigation and money,” she said.
Mercy further indicated that the agribusiness is not a preserve for men rather, for all.
“We have 60 per cent of our clientele being make and they are all they are all loving what we do so to the ladies we will tell you that this is an achievable feat that we will encourage everybody to get into.
“You don’t need any educational background. Personally I have done or study anything about agriculture. Everything that I preach and say to other people is not what anybody said to me. It is what I have practiced over the years and I believe in it.”
She is training young people to also develop passion for agriculture.
“Also our main target is kids. That is why we organize quarterly event which is called giggling and gardening where we have the kids come over and then we teach them how to grow their own food.
“Last year, we did the first one and then coronavirus came so people couldn’t come to it. We had the gardening kids.
“The gardening kids come with your soil, your hand fork and everything that you need to grow with and then we give you something small to show you how to go about it.
“My name is Mercy Sampoma Boateng and I want to challenge every individual to grow their own food to enable them feed their family and then feed the community and make money out of it.”
The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to enable young people in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work.
It is one of the largest, private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world.
The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organization with its own Board of Directors and management.
In Ghana, after more than a decade working with the private sector and government to promote financial inclusion and education through it’s Scholars Program, the Mastercard Foundation launched Young Africa Works, a 10-year strategy to enable 3 million young Ghanaians, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
Young Africa Works in Ghana aims to:
Enable the growth of women-owned enterprises through business development services, access to finance, and access to markets.
Enable young people to acquire skills that are needed by businesses in growing sectors of the economy and strengthen the quality of education to prepare students for the world of work.
Scale digital training and strengthen technology-focused employment opportunities.
The Mastercard Foundation is partnering with Media General to celebrate young women challenging the status quo in Agriculture to commemorate International Women’s Day 2021.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana
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