Leading producer and exporter of fresh vegetables, roots, tubers, and fruits in Ghana ,Marphlix Trust Company has brought back to life a long-abandoned irrigation facility under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), turning it into a training ground for thousands of Ghanaian youth eager to venture into agribusiness and export-oriented farming.
Located at Dawhenya, near Prampram in Greater Accra, the facility, initially developed by the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) in partnership with Israeli firm Agritop, hosts about 100 Greenhouse units or tents but have been left unused for nearly eight years.
Today, under the stewardship of Marphlix Trust, it is being reimagined as a hub for modern agricultural training and entrepreneurship.
Chief Executive Officer of Marphlix Trust, Dr. Felix Mawuli Kamassah explained that the initiative is designed to equip over 5,000 young people with practical skills that go beyond traditional farming. Trainees receive accommodation, meals, and allowances while learning greenhouse cultivation, open-field farming, irrigation systems, crop research, and agribusiness management.
“We are moving agriculture from subsistence to business,” Dr. Kamassah said in an interview with The High Street Journal. “The focus is on training youth to grow what the market needs, and we go a step further by providing inputs and guaranteed market linkages to sustain their ventures.”
For many participants, the program has been a turning point. Matilda Agbloe, a graduate of Ohawu Agricultural College, said the training has revived her dream of working in agriculture. “After school, I couldn’t start anything due to lack of capital. This opportunity gives me the tools and support I need to pursue my passion, particularly in exports,” she noted.
Christabel Fafa Dogbe, who transitioned from hospitality into farming, shared similar sentiments. “This program is shaping me into a professional vegetable farmer. I now see the potential of producing safe, organic vegetables that can meet both local and international demand,” she said.
Another beneficiary, Dramani Alhassan Kennedy, from Tinga in the Bole District of the Savannah Region, described the initiative as a lifeline for his community. “Where I come from, galamsey has destroyed the land and left many young people jobless. My expectation after this program is to return home and be a turning point for my community, to change the mindset that agriculture is punishment. Agriculture is not for the poor, it is a real business. With what I am learning here, I can mobilize the youth in my area to embrace farming as a sustainable alternative to illegal mining and social vices,” he said.
The project aims to produce crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, chili, and habanero, with ambitions of capturing a significant share of Ghana’s tomato market while strengthening the country’s position in the export market.
Looking ahead, Marphlix Trust hopes to replicate the model across other irrigation sites nationwide, building what it calls “agro-vegetable cities” that can reduce unemployment, boost food security, and increase foreign exchange earnings.
“This is the new face of agriculture in Ghana,” Dr. Kamassah emphasized. “It is modern, mechanized, and built to create sustainable jobs and wealth for young people.”
