DIVERSIFIED LIVELIHOOD CENTER

Twenty-four
percent (24%) of the working poor are young people and majority
of these poor youth live in rural areas. Because of limited job
prospect, limited livelihood and low income, many young people
leave rural areas to seek employment opportunities elsewhere.
However, agriculture has much potential as an engine of
inclusive growth and youth employment. TRACTOR works to empower
and provide practical training to farmers and youth on how to
diversify their livelihood to increase their income and source
of income through numerous commercial but sustainable
agricultural activities. TRACTOR builds the capacity of farmers
and youths using its purpose build diversified livelihood
centre, which features, animal husbandry (animals include,
cattle, sheep, goat, pig, rabbit, grasscutter, guinea fowl,
duck, geese, chicken, turkey, pigeon), aquaculture (tilapia and
cat fish), vegetables farm, bee-keeping, snail farm, cassava and
orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP) farm, wind mill, green house
and organic farming techniques. TRACTOR believes that all these
commodities can be developed into a complete value chain which can
promote food and nutritional security, job creation, wealth
creation as well as serve as an engine for economic growth and
development. The diversified livelihood centre is the largest of
its kind in Ghana.

ICT CENTER FOR AGRICULTURE
Feeding a global
population of over 9 billion by 2030 requires about 70% increase
in global food production and small holder agriculture in
particular plays a much more effective role. The use of ICTs
enables choice, the option to stay on farms and take full
advantage of new technologies, while incorporating valuable
traditional practices and knowledge. TRACTOR uses ICTs and
modern farming technologies to enhance indigenous farming
knowledge. Access to timely and accurate information is crucial
in increasing agricultural production to feed the increasing
global population therefore TRACTOR runs an ICT centre for
agriculture where research document/finding are translated into
local knowledge and made available to farmers and youth. The
centre serves as a platform for sharing and dissemination of
information and knowledge. Research document are also made
available for organizations and individuals. TRACTOR uses the
ICT centre for agriculture to train farmers and youths on
agricultural business management and marketing, Good
Agricultural Practices (GAP), modern farming technology. We also
train farmers on the use of ICT tools (computer and internet) to
search for information on agricultural activities. We also work
to promote sustainable agriculture as a viable career option for
Ghanaian youth. The ICT centre for agriculture is the first of
its kind in Ghana.

AGROFORESTRY DEMONSTRATION SITE
Agroforestry is a traditional practice of integrating trees with
crops and/or animals to contribute to food security, economic
development as well as mitigating climate change in which tree
planting and mangrove enrichment serves as a major carbon
sink/sequestrate. The purpose of the agroforestry demonstration
site is to help people and community to examine problems which
are affecting their lives and landscapes they inhabit and
consider solving or at least alleviating these problem using
agroforestry techniques. The site also facilitates and indicates
a variety of possible courses of action from which the community
and people can select those most suited to their particular
situation. Conversely, as part of the ongoing effort to fight
climate change collaboratively, TRACTOR has established an
agroforestry demonstration site on 450 acre plot at Angu to
serve educational and training purposes. This demonstration site
is unique and first of its kind in the country. The site
features different species of trees, eco-garden, bee-keeping,
dams, fruits, vegetables and other food crops which are organic
driven. It is important to acknowledge that the three dams and
species of tree which fringes the demonstration site encourage
biodiversity conservation, a globally accepted standard for
biodiversity conservation.
