The Ghana Prisons Service's efforts to enhance its agricultural initiatives in order to contribute to the development of the sector are on track, according to the Ghana Prisons Service's Rector of Prisons in charge of agriculture, Hanson Kwame Adu Awuku.
Already, 22 of the service's agric stations have received funding from its agriculture revolving fund to engage in the production of crops and trees such as maize, rice, vegetables, cowpea, soyabean, cassava, cocoa, oil palm, woodlots and livestock such as pigs, rabbits, sheep, goats, grasscutters, broilers, and aquaculture.
According to Mr. Awuku, the investment was intended to bolster the notion that agriculture was the backbone of the service, as the venture's products supplemented detainees' rations.
He was speaking at an agriculture training program for a select group of officers.
In collaboration with the University of Ghana School of Agriculture, the Design Thinking Approach (BRADETA) initiative provided the training.
It aimed to develop the capacity of non-agriculturally trained officers in the service to supplement the government's inmate ration, provide skills and funds for agric-related expansion activities, and supplement the government's inmate ration.
Officers from various stations, including Kenyase, Kpando, Amanfrom, Adwira, and Jamestown, would be taught theory and practical modules to enhance their understanding of agricultural studies and practices.
Farming facility
Mr. Awuku explained that the training program was designed to teach fundamental agriculture to non-agricultural staff at five agricultural stations of the service.
Over the years, the service has played a crucial role in the nation's internal security by keeping its clients in custody and assuring public safety.
However, international best practice advocates a shift from the traditional warehousing of inmates to the provision of useful skills, which, he said, was part of their mandate in the provision of reformation and rehabilitation and the vision of the current administration to increase internally generated funds through agriculture.
Thus, the training was an investment in the officers' abilities to cultivate maize, rice, and cassava, among other crops.
"In addition to the skills acquired by inmates in our farming stations, agriculture has been the backbone of the Ghana Prisons Service, as the venture's products supplement inmates' government-issued rations," he emphasized.
Mr. Awuku disclosed that efforts were being made to increase the value of cassava and palm fruits through the production of gari and palm oil, respectively.
As a result, he urged the course participants to consider the intensive training seriously.
"Although the training is not examinable, the service requires a high level of professionalism and discipline," he added.
Readiness
Professor Irene Egyir, dean of the School of Agriculture at the University of Ghana, praised the service for undertaking the initiative, noting that the service was well-known for its farms in all regions, where it engaged in livestock, poultry, crops, cereals, and legumes, among other agricultural activities.
She stated that the training was part of efforts to increase the number of officers with agricultural training within the service and to enhance their capacity to engage in agriculture in an appropriate manner.