By Jones Anlimah
Winner of the 6th edition of the Agricultural Student Boot Camp (AGSTUD), Ms. Charlotte Yawa Sedzedo, from the Adidome Farm Institute located at Adidome in the Central Tongue district of the Volta region, has been presented with a fully stocked agrochemical input dealer shop, estimated at over 75,000 Ghana cedis.
At a ceremony to hand over the shop to her, the Dufia of Adidome, Togbe Kwasinyi Kakaklolo Agyemang, appealed to government to upgrade the Adidome Farm Institute into a veterinary college to befit the animal husbandry nature synonymous with the Adidome enclave, thereby enhancing its relevance and impact on the agricultural landscape.
Last year, Ms Charlotte Yawa Sedzedo, a final-year student at Adidome Farm Institute, located at Adidome in the Central Tongue district of the Volta region, participated in the 6th edition of the Agricultural Students Career Guidance and Mentorship Dialogue Student Boot Camp (AGSTUD) held in Accra.
Charlotte emerged as the overall winner for the Agromonti Ultimate Prize, beating over 90 other students from both the second cycle and tertiary educational institutions.
These include, but are not limited to, Kwame University of Science and Technology, University of Ghana, University College of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, University of Environment and Sustainable Development and the University for Development Studies.
Others are Kwadaso Agricultural College, Accra Academy School, O’reilly Senior High School, Achimota Senior High School, Techiman Senior High School, among others.
During the 7-day camping period, participants were exposed to mentors, coaches, and experts in the agribusiness industry to help them implement their business ideas.
As part of her prize package, Agrihouse Foundation, in partnership with Agromonti, both non-governmental organisations committed to fostering agricultural development, especially among the youth, presented a fully stocked agrochemical input dealer shop, estimated at over 75,000 cedis to Ms Sedzedo.
The Chief Executive Officer of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, said the Agricultural Students Career Guidance and Mentorship Dialogue Student Boot Camp (AGSTUD), is a way to harness entrepreneurial skills and inculcate investment in the agriculture sector among the youth.
According to her, the choice of an input dealer shop was in the right direction to help her kick-start her career in the Agri Input Dealership, and also to contribute to the Government’s agenda of ensuring Input accessibility for farmers in districts and communities.
“For the past six years, we have had over 6,000 students passing through the camp. And some of them have gained very good employment with key Agric institutions, some have also been able to use their seed capital to establish meaningful and profit generating businesses, while others have also come together as a group to implement their projects on their farm or to scale up into IT. We have project that also targets women, where we support women, train them and support them with basic inputs for their farms,” she noted.
The Dufia of Adidome, Togbe Kwasinyi Kakaklolo Agyemang V, commended Ms Sedzedo on her achievement and underscored the importance of supporting young talents in their endeavours, especially in the agriculture sector.
He appealed to government to upgrade the Adidome Farm Institute into a Veterinary College to align with the animal husbandry nature synonymous with the Adidome enclave and added that land for possible expansion works was available.
“I personally, as the Chief of Adidome, took that as a project, and I went to see the minister telling them that, and not only me but also the ministry of Food and Agriculture has also indicated that Adidome Farm Institute should be exempted from TVET,” he said.
“The reason being that they should upgrade Adidome Farm Institute into a Veterinary College. This is because that will be the only one we will have in the whole subregion and also because the college can offer more than a TVET. So this is just our humble plea. We can offer other land for the TVET so they can exist side by side with the Adidome Farm Institute,” Togbe added.
The funding for the Agrochemical input dealer shop stemmed from a meticulously crafted business plan Ms Sedzedo presented during the boot camp. This, according to the Member of Parliament for the Central Tongu Constituency, Mr Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze, was worth emulating by other youth in the area.
Ms Charlotte Yawa Sedzedo thanked the Agrihouse Foundation and Agromonti and urged her fellow youth, especially females, to break the stereotypes and venture into male-dominated areas of the economy.
“One thing I learnt was the fact that as a business starter, you must learn to identify problems. We should identify what the problem is before you start a business so that you will be able to solve that problem. That is the only way you can make progress,” she said.
She added, “And we should also learn not to give room for excuses wherever and whenever there is an opportunity. We should go ahead and do our best. So that was what I actually applied during my presentation. We, the youth in agriculture, are motivated when we go ahead to improve to actually add value to what we are doing. I want to use this opportunity to thank Agrihouse and Agromonti Foundations for their investments in the youth.”