Retired United Nations diplomat, Victoria Akyeampong has shared how she ventured into farming after her retirement.

Speaking on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning, she said agribusiness has always been one of her passions since she had firsthand experience on her father’s and grandfather’s farms during childhood.

This made her understand and develop love for the activity to the extent that she had dreams of pursuing it one day, although she pursued a career in formal education.

“Working for the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees and assisting displaced people, one of the programmes that I took to heart was agriculture to make sure that those who were displaced were able to become self-sufficient. So for me, coming out was to also now do it for myself and contribute to the development of my country.” 

After retiring from the UN, her son gifted her a piece of land after she spoke about her intention to venture into farming after returning from her travels in southern Africa.

Starting the farm, she said, has not been the smoothest journey so far due to a number of things. Finding dependable farm workers had been her biggest challenge, making her not only spend more but also having to check in on her farm constantly.

“Back in the day, farmers used to most times live on the farms to the extent of becoming like family. But these days, the young farm workers prefer to come to the farm punctually in groups, get the work done, and leave for their various lives.”

She added that another challenge was the proximity to inhabited towns, which slowed down distribution and could even lead to the loss of produce.

Despite all these challenges, she remains strong and determined with the help and support of her children. Her daughter, who's into sustainable agriculture, has been of great help in building homesteads for the farm, and her son has been supporting and cheering her from behind the scenes.

“Anytime I get frustrated, they tell me, ‘It keeps you busy!’ My son has made himself the one who sits and gets updates. He told me that I would need to create a helicopter pad for him to be able to visit the farm as often as I wanted.”

Currently, Mrs Akyeampong is focused on cashew nuts but inter-crops every now and then with other legumes.

The retired diplomat is also working towards launching a new product that is meant to revolutionise the world of women in addition to farming. Reusable underwear that would be used for menstrual periods instead of disposable sanitary pads.

She advised young and upcoming farmers not to give in to other people’s pressure and continue with their passion.