Mr Alfred Amoah, the Chief Executive of Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Municipality, commended Marian Ofori Twumasi, for winning the National Best Youth Farmer Award. Mr Amoah expressed excitement at the exploits of the young lady and said it should inspire the youth to venture into agriculture. “Marian has brought great honour to her family, community, municipality, region and more importantly, brought dignity to womanhood across the country. ” he said. Recounting her experience, Marian told the press, she gave up but for the Ignite programme.
The farm had almost been run down to the ground. There was nothing to show for all the funds that she had been remitting into the venture. It was during that period that she began to have real doubts about whether farming was really for her. After all her efforts, she had nothing to show for it. Utterly broken and seriously considering closing down the farm, picking up her certificates and coming back to look for a job, it seemed all over for Marian’s farming dreams. During that painful period, an advertisement for IGNITE, an agribusiness programme designed purposely for young women in agriculture, caught the attention of her husband, Seth Ofori Twumasi. Sensing the potential of the event to help his wife, Seth went ahead to register his wife on to the programme.
The training at the IGNITE provided the spark she needed to revive her dreams. It was at the programme that she realised the potential of what she had. Listening to the stories of all the participants from various African countries and comparing what she heard to her own story, Marian realised that she was on the right path. With her confidence revived, Marian went back, picked up pieces of what was left and put in 101% into the enterprise.
Prior to this big win, she had become the best oil palm farmer in her municipality in 2020.
