The National Best Farmer for 2021, Alhaji Mashud Mohammed, was still in disbelief a day after he was crowned with the national honour, when the Daily Graphic caught up with him in Accra.
He said even though he was aware that his farm merited an award of that magnitude, he always believed that someone was better than him and that the invitation to Cape Coast for the award ceremony would not earn him the ultimate.
Surprises
“So, on that day, during the ceremony, when my name was mentioned, I did not even hear it until my wife drew my attention that I was being called as the overall winner.
“I got up confused, over-excited and could not believe myself,” Alhaji Mohammed told the Daily Graphic at the Alisa Hotel, where he was lodging awaiting to emplane back to Tamale.
For him, all that he wanted was the recognition that he was part of those who contributed to feeding the nation.
“That was all that I wanted; that the President of the nation and Minister of Agriculture will tell me on a national platform that I have done well. That alone, for me, was sufficient. After all, whatever I get from the farms are mine,” an elated Alhaji Mohammed told the Daily Graphic.
Gratitude
Alhaji Mohammed was grateful to the sector Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and more importantly to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as well as the national selection committee for choosing him and recognising his contribution to food sufficiency and food security in the country.
The 44-year-old farmer, a Dagomba by ethnic origination from the Mion District in the Northern Region, who is a father of four, advocates students seeking internship or national service to do so with established farmers to enable them to appreciate farming as a professional venture worthy of pursuing.
For him, if the youth developed interest in farming, the country would not only be food sufficient, but there would be wealth because there was a lot of money in farming.
How it all started
Walking the Daily Graphic down memory lane, Alhaji Mohammed said until 2016, it never occurred to him that he should quit his professionally trained area – teaching, which he loved dearly to take to full-time farming.
Even though he was doing subsistence farming since his youthful age, while in school and alongside his profession as a trained teacher, with two or so acreage, his intention was to complement whatever he earned as a teacher to be able to take care of his family very well since 2006.
However, in 2008, Alhaji Mohammed, upon realising that he was making enough money through his farming activities decided to register a company known as Cudjoe Abimash Enterprise to incorporate his farming and other activities.
