Kanton Senior High Secondary School has successfully harvested 30 bags of maize and three and a half bags of soybeans from a two-acre farm cultivated as a pilot project.
The initiative aims to address food challenges within the school and educate students on the scientific aspects of farming, encouraging them to consider agriculture as a future venture.
Mr. Mohammed Kanton, the school's headmaster, shared insights with the Ghana News Agency, stating, “We cultivated two units (acre) of maize and one unit (acre) of soya beans for the start of our pilot project with the hope of improving as the years go by.”
The harvested produce will supplement the students' meals, and the project emphasizes the attractive and scientific aspects of agriculture.
The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) played a pivotal role in supporting the project by covering costs related to tractor ploughing for the three acres, fertilizer, and seed purchase.
Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, the PTA chairman, and the executives actively contributed to the success of the initiative, while students provided labor after classes and during weekends.
Mr. Jacob Batong Mahamud, the Senior House Master, emphasized the positive impact of the “Operation Feed Yourself” initiative led by the headmaster and the PTA.
He highlighted the ease of student participation, stating, “We realized that farming is a good venture and could actually support individuals and families if the right agronomic practices were carried out for students to see, and for a school particularly, labor was not stressful as students went to work in batches for less than an hour for the size of the farm occasionally.”
Mr. Mahamud expressed optimism that with continued support and interest in agriculture, more crops could be cultivated and harvested in the future.
