For Gold Fields Ghana Foundation Executive Secretary, Abdul-Razak Yakubu, prisons were once places he associated with fear.

That perception, he says, began to change as he came to understand the Ghana Prisons Service not simply as an institution for keeping offenders in custody, but as a place where lives can be reformed and redirected.

“Since that experience, whenever I see your uniforms, I get scared. But I am building the confidence to know that the prison is an institution for reformation,” he said.

His remarks came as the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation launched the Prisons Agro-Support and Empowerment (PASE) Project at the Tarkwa Local Prison, supporting the cultivation of an additional 20 acres of oil palm.

The initiative forms part of the Foundation’s broader investment in enterprise development and sustainable livelihoods in its host communities. The project seeks to use agriculture not only to supplement food production at the prison, but also to equip inmates with practical skills they can use after their release.

The Tarkwa Prison already had 30 acres under oil palm cultivation.

With a prison population of more than 340 inmates and a daily feeding allocation of only five Ghana cedis per inmate, prison authorities say expanding agricultural production is critical to supporting food needs while giving inmates productive opportunities.

The Foundation has therefore provided 1,400 Tenera oil palm seedlings, fertiliser, organic compost, knapsack sprayers, weedicide, cutlasses and protective boots at a cost of about GH¢144,666 to establish the additional plantation.

Commander of the Tarkwa Local Prison, Chief Superintendent Bright Gbogbo, says the project fits directly into the Ghana Prisons Service’s new strategic direction.

He linked the initiative to the Director General’s “Think Ghana Prison Services” policy, particularly its focus on agricultural mechanisation, business and wealth creation, and strategic partnerships.

According to him, agriculture offers inmates more than occupation while serving their sentences.

It can provide them with vocational skills, self-reliance and opportunities for employment or entrepreneurship once they return to society.

“The Ghana Prison Service is committed not only to the safe custody of inmates but also to their reformation, rehabilitation, and successful reintegration into society,” Chief Superintendent Gbogbo said.

The prison authorities say the project is also expected to move beyond cultivation.

The Gold Fields Ghana Foundation is considering the establishment of an oil palm processing centre, which would allow the prison to add value to its produce rather than depend entirely on external processors.

Chief Superintendent Gbogbo disclosed that 1,400 seedlings had been supplied for the 20-acre plantation, with most already planted, while the Foundation is expected to support the prison with a processing machine.

For Mr Yakubu, the ultimate measure of the intervention will not be the number of seedlings planted, but the lives changed.

He said Gold Fields wants inmates leaving the prison to be able to point to the skills acquired during their incarceration as a foundation for a productive future.

“We want people who leave your care to become the best agronomists and one day hold the microphone somewhere and say that I learned these skills when I was unfortunate or fortunate enough to be in the care of Ghana Prisons,” he said.

The project is part of the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation’s stated commitment to creating value beyond mining, with investments in agriculture, livelihoods, skills development and community development.

For the Tarkwa Prison, however, the ambition is broader than an oil palm plantation.

It is about making rehabilitation practical giving inmates the skills, confidence and opportunity to build a different life when the prison gates eventually open.