ICMM - International Council on Mining & Metals

CASE STUDY

Newmont's agribusiness initiative supports local communities

In a bid to make a positive contribution to the communities of the Asutifi District, where it has surface mining operations, Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd (NGGL) has conceived the Ahafo Agribusiness Growth Initiative (AAGI).

The program aims to stimulate long-term economic growth and to improve the livelihoods of the communities of South Ahafo. It seeks to achieve this by building the capacity of farmer based organizations (FBOs) and SMEs to increase productivity and the standard of their commodities.

It also aims to develop the commercial agriculture skill of these institutions and to link them to financing sources and market. The intention is to contribute to the creation of a vibrant local economy that will ultimately create job and income opportunities that are independent of mine-related opportunities.

To implement this project, Newmont initiated a partnership with the NGO African Connections Ghana.

A total number of 1,368 people have been trained successfully

The AAGI project has been designed to be implemented in two phases. Phase One of the project began in March 2006 and ended in August 2006. It consisted of: High Impact Training (HIT) covering agricultural productivity, farmer business skills, business management skills, and identification, analysis and recommendation of long-term agribusiness growth and financing initiatives.

The objectives of this phase were to:

• Improve farmers' general and practical knowledge in production technique
• Improve farmers' knowledge on new market demands and opportunities
• Introduce farmers' to new crop and varieties that have high market potential.

A total number of 1,368 people had been trained successfully under the HIT by the end of phase one.

Following the completion of phase one, African Connections was requested in November 2006 to proceed with an interim phase before the commencement of AAGI phase two. It featured a redesign of the HIT programme to train farmers on best practices including export requirements and industrial procurement standards.

About 2400 participants were trained during the course of this phase, which came to an end in November 2007. It focused on strengthening groups and farmer associations in the production of five crops (chilli pepper, soybean, ginger, maize, and plantain) which have high productivity potentials and ready markets.

This intermediate intervention sought to allow these farmers to take advantage of the available market in the upcoming farming season while structures were being put in place for the commencement of phase two. The interim phase also sought to link the local farmer associations to the local rural banks and other identified financing sources.

Phase two of the project started in November 2007, and the design implementation is proceeding steadily. African Connections has made considerable progress in negotiations with input suppliers and potential buyers on behalf of the farmers.

Several local companies are supplying seeds and necessary inputs to the farmers and many others are prepared to serve as ready market for their produce. Through such negotiations, the Grain and Legumes Development Board has expressed willingness to work with some of the AAGI groups to develop seed bank/seed growing units locally. This will ensure the availability of seeds at low cost for farmers.

Everything is on course to enable this phase achieve its objectives, which are to:

• Train members of the association to build association capacity and improve group dynamics
• Improve farmer productivity and increase business skills
• Link associations to identified potential funding sources
• Link associations to identified buyers including processors, exporters, commercial and institutional buyers (eg school).

By strengthening the farmer groups and association, the project will be able to build economies of large scale to leverage the market and improve the incomes of the local farmers.

To date, almost 200 farmer groups have been formed in eight communities with a total participation of 2647 farmers. In addition, the project has attracted donor funding and micro-credit participation from local banks.