The Managing Director of Antika Company Limited, Alhaji Abdulai Antiku Seidu, has been adjudged the second runner-up National Best Farmer for 2019 at Ghana's 35th edition of the National Farmers’ Day ceremony held in Ho, Volta Region.

He took home a Nissan Hardbody pickup and other prizes as part of the award.

Alhaji Antiku, who farms in the Upper West Region, through his company, provides high-quality seeds, distributes and sells agro-inputs such as fertiliser, agro-chemicals, and simple and affordable farm tools to farmers in the northern part of Ghana.

Commenting on the award, he thanked the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the government for the honour done him and other farmers across the country.

Work of Alhaji Antiku

The main objective of his firm is to increase productivity, income and standard of living of farmers in the regions up north and the country at large.

The company aims to ease access to high-quality seeds, fertilisers and agrochemicals by small-scale farmers in Ghana.

The company also partners a number of institutions such as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG), Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) and Crop Research Institute (CRI), GTZ, International Fertiliser Development Centre of the Agricultural Technology Transfer Project (IFDC-ATTP), among others.

Other award winners

Mr Charles Gyamfi and Nana Yaw Sarpong Serebour, were adjudged the National Best Farmer and 1st Runner-Up, respectively.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that the country would take delivery of farm machinery worth $30 million from Brazil in fulfilment of the government’s promise to improve the mechanisation of agriculture.

“The government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has imported milling machinery for rice, maize and soya from China and Brazil, which are expected to arrive by the middle of next year. This will surely provide appreciable relief to farmers and boost the grain industry,” he stated.