About sixty schools in the Eastern, Central, Greater Accra and Volta regions are participating in a school farm project to encourage more young people to consider farming as a career.
The school farm project with support from Blue-skies company provides participating schools with seedlings and tools for a selected crop. The school with the best farm produce is rewarded with computers and laptops.
Blue-Skies company also award prizes to schools that produce the best farm in terms of how it has engaged students in farming to promote active learning, and develop a positive attitude about food and agriculture, the environment and entrepreneurialism.
The school farm project which started with twelve (12) schools in 2015 provides students with workshops to educate them on the crops. The project is also supervised by school teachers and experts from Blue-skies company till harvest.
The harvested crops are also sold by the schools to sustain the school farm project.
Between February and March, schools are expected to demarcate an area of land, grow crops that are suitable to their environment.
A team of experts visit the schools periodically to provide support where needed and assess the performance of schools based on good agricultural practice, what has been learnt by the students, evidence of involvement by the students and engagement with the local community as well as how wildlife has been encouraged.
A teacher and the project coordinator at the Wirenkyiren MA Junior high school in the East Akim municipality in the Eastern region, Mr Mesharck Okunnor, sharing his experience working with the students on the school farm project said the students have embraced the project and are showing dedication to task.
Some of the students who spoke with the Republic Press said they are enthused to be participating in the project and promise to take up agriculture in the future.