Students from Kwadaso Agric College turn cassava peels into animal feed through knowledge derived from Agribusiness and Entreupreneuship

Some students of the Kwadaso Agricultural College in the Ashanti Region have set up a company to recycle waste cassava peels into animal feed. The company, Kwadaco Company Limited, was formed by Mr Albert Adombile Ayingura, Mr Eric Agyei Gyansah and Mr Marcellinus Babai, all students of the college. The three have subsequently become the Managing Director (MD), Marketing Manager and Head of Operations respectively.

The establishment of the company falls under the agri-business course offered in Agricultural Training Colleges nationwide. The course is to help identify and nurture entrepreneurship among students by inculcating in them the need to establish their own businesses after school instead of waiting to be employed.

The MD, Mr Ayingura, said the company had done the feed trials, proximate analysis and other necessary checks on the feed and was, therefore, ready to go commercial with the feed once the founders were out of school. All the three are in their final year and will be completing in June this year, Mr Ayingura said. The company’s feed is called Ultimate Cassava Meal and is suitable for poultry, pigs, fish and rabbits, among others.

As to the rationale behind turning cassava peels into animal feed, Mr Aringura explained that he and his colleagues realised the high competition between man and animals for maize, a major source of raw material in animal feed. That, he said, was pushing prices of maize as source of animal feed up.

“But cassava peels are readily available and cheap; it’s even a waste to some people and so we realised that producing animal feed from it will help solve the environmental challenges posed by the peels as well as reduce the strain on maize and make it more available to man for food," he explained.

In the course of production, Mr Adombila said some ingredients were often added to the milled cassava peels to help meet the nutritional requirement of the animals. “It's true we want to cut down on cost but we also have at the back of our minds the need to meet the nutritional requirements of the animals for their optimum growth,” he added. The company and its products were adjudged the best in the 2013 National Agri-business Competition held in Damongo in the Northern Region recently.

The competition was between similar companies operated in the six agricultural training colleges in the country and was organised by the Agricultural Extension (AgEx) Services unit of Engineers Without Borders (EWB,) Canada, in collaboration with the various colleges and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

The company's Marketing Manager, Mr Gyansah, said the award was a morale booster and pledged their commitment to make the idea work in order to benefit many animal farmers. The Head of Operations, Mr Barbai, mentioned transportation of the cassava peels and funds as some challenges facing the company in its commercial production.

Source: GhanaWeb

EWB in colabration with ACSU impart business skills to students

The Agricultural Extension (AgEx) Services Venture of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Canada, has collaborated with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to impart entrepreneurial skills of students in the various agriculture training colleges country-wide.

The venture has also collaborated with the ministry to invest in extension services in the country’s agricultural sector with the aim of helping to improve the livelihoods of farmers, especially those in the hinterlands.

EWB is a Canadian-based non-governmental organisation which has operated in the country since 2004. It helps rural farmers and stakeholders in the sector to lessen the inherent challenges. Its AgEx Services Venture recently collaborated with the MOFA and the Executive Committee of the Agricultural Colleges Student Union (ACSU) to organise the maiden Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship Competition in Tamale.

The competition was among student-companies established in the six agricultural colleges in the country. The Country Manager of the AgEx Services Venture, Madam Miriam Hird-Younger, said in an interview that the establishment of the companies was part of EWB’s initiative which is aimed at identifying and nurturing entrepreneurship among them. The initiative, which falls under the Agribusiness course offered in agricultural colleges, also helps to educate the students on the need to establish their own businesses after school instead of waiting to be employed, Madam Hird-Younger said.

She added that the AgEx Services Venture partnered the colleges to introduce the Agribusiness course to help impart entrepreneurial skills to the students while they were still on campus. At the end of the competition, Kwadaco Company Limited, an animal feed production company operated by students of the Kwadaso Agricultural College in the Ashanti Region, emerged the overall best.

Their company processed wasted cassava peels into animal feed. The company was formed by Mr Albert Adombila Ayingura, Mr Eric Agyei Gyansah and Mr Marcellinus Babai, all students of the college. The three have subsequently become the Managing Director, Marketing Manager and Head of Operations respectively.

Although the company is currently operating on campus, its MD, Mr Ayingura, said it would soon go commercial once the founders are out of school. All three are in their final year and would be completing in June this year, Mr Ayingura said. On the rationale behind turning cassava peels into animal feed, the MD explained that he and his colleagues realised that there was a high competition for maize, a major raw material in most animal feed, between man and the animals for the product.

That, he said, was pushing prices of maize-sourced animal feeds up. “But cassava peels are readily available and cheap; they are even a waste to some people and so we realised that producing animal feed from it will reduce the strain on maize and make it more available to man for food,” he explained.


Source: GhanaWeb

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THE ACSU GAMES, CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION SHOW IS HERE AGAIN

BRIEF HISTORY OF ACSU

BRIEF HISTORY OF ACSU

The Agricultural Colleges Students Union was established in 1981 under the leadership of Mr. Emmanuel Leo Fiagbe for the purpose of fostering unity and solidarity amongst the five (5) Agricultural Colleges in Ghana. Desirous of fostering chosen bond of friendship and responsibility realizing the need to obtain the highest excellence in our moral, spiritual, social, political and intellectual endeavours and solemn declaration and affirmation of our faith in the principal that all powers government emanate the collective of the people.

The National Secretariat of the union was formally sited only in Kwadaso Agricultural College until a protest came from the Veterinary College that the it should be rotated from one college to the other after each academic year, and that system has been in existence till now.

Aims/Objectives

•       To foster unity among students of the six Agricultural colleges
•       To serve the mouth piece, to fight for the students’ rights, both at local and national levels.
•       T seek for better condition of service after training
•       To educate students on their rights and responsibilities
•       To seek the general welfare of students
•       To seek the welfare of lecturers

MEMBERSHIP

All students of the six Agricultural colleges are automatic members.

NATIONAL SECRETARIATSHIP

There yearly rotation, among the Colleges, pursuant to the usage of the Union’s constitution.

MAIN YEARLY ACTIVITIES

·         Delegates’ conference: to address grievances of the member colleges.

·         Year of inception celebration (annual week celebration)

·         Annual Conference, Games and Agricultural exhibition: entire membership together with the directorates of HRDMD deliberate on issues of concern, entertain one another and display Agricultural exhibits from the various Colleges.