B-Bovid

There are moments that change you forever. There are people who cause you to be better. When you live those moments, or meet such humans, write about them.

I was recommended by a respected journalist to cover a trip to a modern agricultural facility in the Mporhor District of the Western Region yesterday. Time: 8 a.m. The purpose was to introduce extension officers from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and farmers who were
selected for this year's National Farmers Day Awards to a unique agricultural model which emphasizes on a new socially-inclusive commercial farming.

B-Bovid, brainchild of Issa Ouedraogo, is the name of the project. According to him, it means "Building Business on Values, Integrity and Dignity." Mouthful, huh? And yes, it really is.

It is seven hectares of so much I have ever seen. From food crops (all types), to rubber plants, fish ponds, pigery, cattle ranch and all types of birds. It's variety at its best. Almost everything agriculture. There is also a factory, where huge machines process palm nut to palm oil, and palm kernel to palm kernel oil. In the end, nothing really goes waste: all by products are used for other purposes.

The model combines all the subsectors of agriculture, using modern farming methods for large-scale production, without compromising on quality of production and its impacts on the environment.

As he took us around his farm and factory, Mr. Ouedraogo spoke passionately about his project. He spoke so much, but so cleverly. Even his occasional jokes were made for the mind.

"He is building a paradise," one team member said. And I agree. There is actually a 'Garden of Eden,' an eco-tourism centre, where B-Bovid farmers grow every fruit that the tropics can support. Acres and acres of everything. Every fruit. Every variety. A really special tourist site. A very beautiful place. A place for children and adults.

Back to the factory proper, Mr. Ouedraogo hosted all forty-something of us with a PowerPoint presentation at their ICT centre. He spoke about the model, future plans, and the B-Bovid initiative of empowering local farmers through ICT training and profit-sharing.

His future plans are not really future plans (as I have known future plans all my life). They are visible, and near. They include a supermarket, abattoir, restaurant, and the installation of additional machines for the production of 'dzome' palm oil.

The restaurant is almost completed. The structure is as the size of the ICT centre. The fairly-equipped ICT block is as the size of a church hall -- probably bigger than any nightclub I have visited. It can take one hundred people at the same time. Easily. I can even increase the number. It depends on the purpose. Hundred in a church, can be fifty at a restaurant, or two hundred in a nightclub. Oh I love mathematics.

A journalist who was part of the team suggested to me that we consider the restaurant as venue for future GJA (Ghana Journalists Association) programmes. I nodded. The truth is, I am not even a registered member. I attended only one GJA local chapter meeting and I regretted it, mainly because of poor attendance. It needs a B-Bovid awakening. We are all involved.

Issa Ouedraogo hails from the northern part of Ghana. His father worked on the State Farms during the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah. He has travelled widely and worked in Europe and several African cities. Ouedraogo will joke that B-Bovid started from birth. I agree.

Currently, he employs close to eighty men and women on his farms and other facilities. But shockingly, a government of hungry people isn't so interested in B-Bovid, or someone like Issa Ouedraogo. He has received little or no direct assistance from Ghana since the project began almost a decade ago . You can tell it is just one man's passion, perseverance and love to feed his people.

B-Bovid has received numerous local and international recognitions for its efforts towards ensuring food security in Ghana: a country where most people cannot afford to feed themselves; a country where farmers are among the poorest.

An extension officer from the Central Region shared something about his experience in Australia. "Here reminds me of what I saw in Melbourne. They cultivate several hectares of farmland using machines. The only difference is that, they get funding from their government and big companies. As a result of that, they have enough to eat and so much more to store."

According to the most recent Ghana Living Standards Survey report issued by the Ghana Statistical Service, majority of Ghanaians engage in farming. However, majority of Ghanaians cannot afford two decent meals in a day.  How can we have enough food while our farmers continue to rely on cutlasses and hoes, and rainfall?

The first time I saw a windmill (in real-life) was yesterday. It was pumping water from one of Ouedraogo's artificial ponds, for irrigation purposes. For someone like me, it's a shame.