HJA Africa (www.hjaafrica.com), the Ghanaian manufacturer of highly cost-effective liquid organic fertilizer OFA, which can double farmer incomes and help them cope with drought, is being celebrated as one of 75 high-impact social enterprises from across the Commonwealth. HJA Africa and OFA will be featured in the “Commonwealth at 75” book launch being held at Westminster Abbey in London, at 6pm today, Wednesday 9 October 2024.

Henry Abraham, CEO of HJA Africa (https://www.linkedin.com/in/henryabraham/) said: “We are an impact-first company and the entire OFA team is greatly honoured by this recognition. More than half of Africa’s workers are smallholder farmers, so having the potential to double their incomes when they use OFA can transform Africa’s development by increasing wealth particularly in the poorer rural areas that most need this. OFA’s big crop yield benefits can also give a huge boost to food security, and as an organic product OFA also brings environmental benefits.

OFA has been recognised in recent awards as the leading Ghana-made organic fertilizer, and more and more farmers are using OFA and experiencing its benefits and cost-effectiveness for themselves. Over the last few months, OFA’s benefits for crop drought resilience have been particularly appreciated by many farmers, due to the prolonged dry spell across Ghana.

With the continuing support of our friends and partners, and the fast-growing numbers of highly positive testimonies from farmers using OFA, we believe OFA will scale to deliver transformative increases in income to tens of millions of farmers over the next few years. Furthermore, due to OFA’s affordability, positive soil health impact, crop drought resilience benefits, and small carbon footprint, we will be able to do this sustainably in both financial and environmental terms. It’s a very exciting prospect and we invite all those sharing our commitment to African-led solutions for Africa’s challenges to help us make it happen!”

Contact: Henry Abraham CEO on +44 7747767201 (phone and WhatsApp) or +233 544386825 (WhatsApp), or Violet Tettey, Head of Administration on +233 55 888 3724, phone and WhatsApp) for more information, or to be connected to farmers using OFA for testimonies

– see also www.facebook.com/hjaafrica for testimonials; and to be connected to scientists who have worked on OFA – see also summaries of OFA related research in the annex.

ANNEX: SUMMARY OF INDEPENDENT FIELD TRIALS IN GHANA USING OFA

rop	Field trial results	Researcher
Maize	On good soils near Kpong, compared to control (no treatment, and attacked by fall armyworm), OFA gave bigger yield increases (+102%) than the reference organic fall armyworm treatment (+69%).	Prof K Fening, University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa
Maize	On good soils near Legon, compared to control with no fertilizer, OFA gave bigger yield increases (+41%) than inorganic fertilizer (+30%), though sample sizes were small and the differences were not statistically significant at the 5% level.	Prof F Kumaga, University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa
Maize	On poor soils (note these can be challenging for OFA used on its own for nutrient-hungry crops such as hybrid maize in this case, as OFA is a biostimulant rather than providing bulk nutrients) near Tamale, OFA was used as a booster with 50% of the standard amount of inorganic fertilizer and gave similar yields to using the full standard amount of inorganic fertilizer, saving almost half the total fertilizer cost.	Dr O A Amoako, CSIR-SARI, published in the journal American Journal of Plant Sciences
Rice	On irrigated fair soils near Kpong, compared to control (no fertilizer) OFA increased yield by 37% and profit by 53% while inorganic fertilizer increased yield by 43% but profit by only 4% due to its high cost. The best result was using OFA as a booster to 50% of the usual amount of inorganic fertilizer, increasing yield by 67% and profit by 75%.	A commercial rice farmer (written up by HJA Africa), not published, available from HJA Africa
	OFA also eliminated rice blast disease, shortened time to harvest by up to 9 days, and increased water use efficiency.
Okra	On fair soils near Kpong, compared to control (no fertilizer), OFA gave bigger yield increases (+97%) than inorganic fertilizer (+53%).	Prof D McCarthy, University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa.

Cowpea	On poor soils near Tamale, OFA gave big increases in yield (+55%), increasing crop profit margin compared to control (no fertilizer) from 27% to 124%.	Dr E Akley, CSIR-SARI, published in the journal Agronomy
Mango	On fair soils near Somanya, OFA (used together with copper-based fungicide) eliminated anthracnose and bacterial blackspot (BBS). [Additional information: OFA gives other key benefits for mango, including inducing floration, dealing with mealybugs, and increasing tree health and yields].	Dr J Hongar, West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement at University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa
Oil Palm seedlings (up to 1 year old)	On poor soils in western Ghana, OFA used as a booster with reduced amounts of inorganic fertilizer produced similar growth results to the standard amount of inorganic fertilizer. [Additional information: OFA also shortened time to transplanting from nursery to field by up to 3 months.]	An oil palm plantation company (written up by HJA Africa), not published, available from HJA Africa.
Rubber seedlings (up to 1 year old)	On poor soils in western Ghana, OFA produced the best growth results of all the treatments tested, and solved fungal challenges.	Dr E N Tetteh, CSIR-CRI, not published, available from HJA Africa (2 papers)

In addition to the excellent results found in these independent field trials, OFA gave similarly good results in HJA Africa’s own trials, and also in trials carried out by scientists in Kenya. OFA has outstandingly good farmer feedback for all crop types and regions of Ghana, as can be seen in testimonials on the HJA Africa Facebook page, www.facebook.com/hjaafrica.