The School of Agriculture has held a one-week intensive training programme for pig farmers.
The training programme which brought together participants from Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso was aimed at equipping them to improve upon their Pig Farming Business.
Opening the programme, the Dean of the School of Agriculture, Prof. Elvis Asare-Bediako, noted that one of the University’s mandate was to disseminate the knowledge generated through research to the benefit of the society. He said the training programme was aimed at helping the farmers to adopt best practices to help them in their businesses. “We are interested in bringing our research expertise to help boost agriculture production in all forms whether crop or animal production,” he added.
Prof. Asare-Bediako said the School would continue to organise such workshops in order to contribute towards expanding the agriculture sector. “Our aim is to make agriculture a lucrative venture especially among the youth who are the future leaders of the country,” he explained.
The Head of Animal Science, Dr. Moses Teye, indicated that pig farming was a lucrative business however; some farmers do not adopt best practices in managing the animals. He noted that pigs were very neat animals “When they are well kept, pigs can even demarcate where they feed from where they defecate,” he explained. He said people still had the notion that pigs were dirty animals because they were normally seen eating everything they find in the environment.
Dr. Teye explained that the participants would learn how to raise pigs, prepare feeds and also process pork into sausages, khebabs and other products to earn more income. He called on the participants to implement what they would learn during the week-long training programme.
The Coordinator of Short Courses at the School, Dr. Julius Hagan, said there were several advantages that the participants could derive from the training programmes. He indicated those who go through the training programmes and implement what they learn were given priorities as suppliers for the UCC Meat Processing Unit (MPU). “We now purchase meat from some farmers who have participated in our short courses,” he told them.
Dr. Hagan said the training programme had extended its tentacles beyond Ghana. “We now have participants from all over West Africa including Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone and other countries enrolling on the training programme,” he stated
The Chairman for the Opening Ceremony, Prof. Kwame Agyei Frimpong, asked participants to take advantage of the training programme to build their capacities. He entreated them to advertise the programmes to other farmers so that they could also benefit from the knowledge and experiences to enrich their business.
The ceremony was also used to award certificates to participants who enrolled on the Tractor Operation, Maintenance and Management workshop.
Present were some lecturers and administrative and technical staff of the School of Agriculture