Winning 2024 National Best Farmer is honour, privilege — Nana Owusu Achiaw Brempong

His dream and desire have been to be named the National Best Farmer one day.

So, for the past 50 years he has been working hard and waiting patiently for that day to come when he would be crowned the best farmer in the country.

He was named the National best Irrigation Farmer in 2020, Ashanti Regional Best Farmer in 2018 and District Best Yam Farmer in 2023 in the Sekyere Central District in the Ashanti Region.

All these never met his aspirations because his target had been the ultimate award, the National Best Farmer.

So, on November 8, when his name surfaced as one of the possible winners of the best farmer, he felt the time was getting near for the realisation of his dream.

It was, therefore, a privilege and an honour when he was named the National Best Farmer 2024.

"Being honoured the overall best among about seven million farmers is not an easy task,” the newly crowned National Best Farmer 2024, Nana Owusu Achiaw Brempong, confessed.

"This is something I have been dreaming of and waiting for, for the past 50 years, having started serious farming when I was 20 years," he revealed.

North American Farms

Nana Brempong, 70, from the Sekyere Central District in the Ashanti Region, is the Chief Executive Officer of North American Farms, with a total of 168 workers, comprising 18 full-time employees, 150 casual employees and six others assisting in the capacity of family relations.

His farm is located within the Sekyere Central District and other farming communities such as Aframsı No. 2, Dumase, Agona Asaman and Tabuom. 

Nana Brempong's farm is highly diversified, with his crop enterprises covering the broad areas of roots and tubers (cassava, cocoyam and yam), cereals (maize), vegetables (bell pepper), plantation crops (cocoa, plantain, cashew, and coconut) timber species (teak) and pulses (soybeans).

He also has large number of ruminants (cattle), small ruminants (goats and sheep), exotic and local poultry birds (layers and broilers), geese and guinea fowls. Additionally, Nana has a fish pond stocked with tilapia and catfish.

He cultivates crops and rears farm animals for very good reasons consistent with the principles of integration of farming operations, and has acquired beneficial farming technologies, which have impacted positively on his farming operations.

Nana Achiaw is regarded as a role model and a source of motivation for the youth in the community. 

Outgrower system

His interest in youth development, especially in his community, has led to development of an outgrower programme, where he provides farmlands, develops the farmland, farming inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizer and chemicals and in some cases, cash advances.

Currently, 28 youth in the area are benefiting from this outgrower system, where he bears the entire expenses and the beneficiaries take care of the farms such that when they harvest, he buys everything at the market price after deducting the cost of everything he pre-financed and the net is divided equally between each farmer and Nana Brempong.

For Nana, the outgrower system is a profitable farming module for both the farmer and himself, “because, some of them, who never counted GH¢1,000 before, within four months, can make between GH¢40,000 and GH¢50,000 at the end of the farming session.”

The outgrower system module is one that those who are capable could venture into in order to entice the youth, especially those in the galamsey areas.

Surely, it is one way to get the youth into farming, knowing that even though they would not contribute anything in the form of financing, yet they stand to rake in such huge sums of money.

For Nana, the enthusiasm of the outgrowers is something that is fulfilling, “and am very proud seeing them jumping into pickups and trailers of the tractors to go their farms.”

“It is very profitable,” he said, adding that at the end of the last farming session, they harvested over 10,000 bags of maize, describing the outgrower system as profitable.  

Nana Brempong is challenging the government and those who are capable to venture into the outgrower system because the youth are now showing interest but he is not able to meet the numbers expressing interest.

“I do everything for them. I have machinery, I have casual hands to help them and so, the calls that am getting now, I cannot honour all of them because with the current 28, I invested one million Ghana cedis ,” he told the Daily Graphic. 

Best farmer award

With the ADB Bank headline sponsorship, Nana pledged to use it to expand the outgrower system to give many more the opportunity to also benefit from it.

ADB Bank has been the headline sponsor of the National Farmers’ Day for over two decades now so, as the National Best Farmer, Nana received GH¢1 million as his prize from the bank to help him expand his farm.

“If I spent my own one million cedis to take care of 28 outgrowers, I can double that with their money. I can do with about 60 people,” he told the Daily Graphic.

He, therefore, expressed gratitude to the government, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the ADB Bank and the planning committee for their respective contribution to seeing him emerge the National Best Farmer.

Social responsibility

His generosity knows no bounds. Aside from the establishment of the outgrower system, he engages people in his catchment area as part of his social responsibility to his community.

Nana Brempong has constructed three boreholes for the community and also supported the building of the chief's palace.

He is also credited with the provision of support to the CHPS compound in the community and donates money and foodstuffs to families during funerals.

Nana Brempong, a family man with eight children, is a farmer, a businessman, a traditional chief and a nurse by profession.

Writer’s email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh