As Ghana’s mining sector enjoys renewed attention on the back of rising global gold prices, a quieter transformation is unfolding at Dawhenya, near Prampra, one that agribusiness leaders argue holds greater promise for jobs, exports and long-term economic resilience.
At the centre of it is Marphlix Trust Farms Limited and Marphlix Trust Institute, where a once-abandoned irrigation and greenhouse facility has been revived into a modern training and production hub for export-oriented agriculture.
The site, originally developed by the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) in partnership with Israeli firm Agritop, houses about 100 greenhouse units that lay idle for nearly eight years. Since 2025, Marphlix Trust has brought the facility back to life, training hundreds of young Ghanaians in controlled-environment farming while producing vegetables for both local and export markets.
For Dr Felix Mawuli Kamassah, Chief Executive Officer of Marphlix Trust Limited, the project is proof that agriculture not mining alone must anchor Ghana’s economic reset.
“Everybody is talking about gold because of the volumes it brings in,” Dr Kamassah said. “But agriculture is more powerful than gold. You cannot eat gold today. You can harvest from agriculture today and eat today.”
Climate Change Forces a Shift
The push toward smart, technology-driven agriculture is no longer optional, Dr Kamassah argues, citing visible changes in Ghana’s climate.
“This year, we didn’t even experience harmattan. That tells you climate change is real,” he said. “If we don’t move into smart agriculture and controlled environments, we will struggle.”
Inside the greenhouses, irrigation systems, fertigation schedules and pest control are carefully managed, allowing year-round production with minimal chemical residues, a model increasingly demanded by export markets.
From Trainee to Trainer
That transition is already changing lives.
Naomi Hagan, now a trainer at the Dawhenya facility, joined Marphlix Trust as a trainee in June 2025 and completed her programme in December of the same year. Today, she trains others.
“I was once a trainee, and after completing the programme, I applied to become a trainer,” she said. “I’m in irrigation. Every plant in the greenhouse depends on irrigation to survive.”
She now oversees water and fertilizer application across greenhouse units, ensuring crops receive nutrients at the right growth stages.
“I’ve learned how to control pests and diseases, and how to apply fertilizer from transplanting all the way to harvesting,” she said. “Now I have real experience, not just theory.”
Her goal is clear: “In the next one or two years, I want to establish my own greenhouse farming and produce for the community and the country.”
Turning Theory into Practice
For Dovlo Jennifer, who studied agribusiness at university, the difference between classroom learning and hands-on training has been striking.
“At school, greenhouse farming was just theory. I had never even seen one,” she said. “Here, I touch it, I work in it, I see how it yields.”
After completing her training in December, she chose to stay on as a supervisor, mentoring National Service personnel, many with no agriculture background.
“Some of them studied accounting or economics and know nothing about agriculture,” she said. “This gives them the opportunity to learn and gain practical skills.”
Based in the nursery section, she now trains others in seedling production, watering, shading and pest control critical stages that determine crop quality and export viability.
“In the next two years, I want to establish my own greenhouse and also employ people,” she said. “I want to train others the way I’ve been trained.”
Exports, Jobs and the Currency
Dr Kamassah links these individual success stories directly to Ghana’s broader economic goals.
“Export is key. Export is how we stabilize the currency,” he said, noting that exporters, particularly SMEs are often overlooked despite their role in sustaining foreign exchange inflows.
He recalled how currency volatility two years ago wiped out margins for many exporters as packaging materials surged to ¢17 to the dollar. While the cedi’s recent stability has brought relief, he warned that sustaining it requires deliberate support for agriculture exports.
“When you put exporters and smallholder farmers together, the employment numbers are far higher than mining,” he said. “Agriculture employs everybody.”
A Call to Rebalance Policy Attention
While acknowledging mining’s contribution, Dr Kamassah cautioned against overreliance on a sector that is capital-intensive, environmentally disruptive and limited in job creation.
“When gold finishes in one area, they move on. Agriculture stays,” he said. “And we don’t destroy the environment — we protect it.”
As Ghana pursues its reset agenda, 24-hour economy ambitions and a $10 billion export target, he is urging policymakers to place smart agriculture at the centre of national strategy.
“Gold cannot be the only success story,” he said. “If government gives agriculture the attention it deserves, we can compete with gold and do it in a way that feeds the nation, creates jobs and protects the future.”
At Dawhenya, the hum of irrigation systems and the confidence of newly trained youth suggest that future is already taking shape one greenhouse at a time.
