More Profitable than Gold

By Samuel Amartey Amarh

Despite the new set of complexities brought about by changing climatic conditions, agriculture remains a very important and profitable sector of the economy. Some tried and tested methods remain relevant today and they can be employed to great and profitable effect. Furthermore, there is a lot of scope for improving on old practices and methods to introduce more resilient agribusiness models both on the production and commercialization fronts.
The idea, however, is not to reinvent the wheel, but rather to find solutions that are suited for any specific set of conditions. The advent of the internet allows us to learn and adapt technologies from other parts of the world. Ideas like irrigation by gravity, construction of manmade water bodies for irrigation and mechanization have existed for a long time but have not been widely utilized. These technologies may require some incremental improvements to become more suitable for the new locations, but they are still capable of producing outstanding results.
My book attempts to illustrate how agriculture can be a very profitable venture if the best agricultural and business practices are followed. As the name of the book suggests, we look comparative look at profitability in agriculture and the gold mining industry. The results ultimately prove agriculture to be “MORE PROFITABLE THAN GOLD”. The outcome of the analysis may be astonishing to some but comes as no surprise to those who are knowledgeable about the agricultural sector.
The confluence of proper planning, quality inputs, relevant technologies good management practices, and know-how will greatly improve profits in agriculture. The paradigm shift from the traditionally labour-intensive nature of farming is attracting a new breed of farmers who are more sophisticated and technologically savvy. The old stereotype of agriculture being a poor man’s industry is being debunked and replaced by the promise of an industry waiting to come alive with possibilities.
Research points to more millionaires being created within the agriculture industry within the next 30 years in Africa alone than petroleum ever did. This is because Africa has the highest number of arable lands in the world and there are various areas in agriculture aside from farming that present great opportunity for profit and growth. Those who go into commercial agriculture today are bound to be Africa’s millionaires within the next 3-10 years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Samuel Amartey Amarh
• Release date: May 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005570989

Book preview

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

DEDICATION

PRELUDE

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 2: The Plan

CHAPTER 3: THE SETUP

CHAPTER 4: Build a solid team

CHAPTER 5: Research

CHAPTER 6: Land

CHAPTER 7: The process

CHAPTER 8: Know your plant spacing

CHAPTER 9: The right equipment

CHAPTER 10: The perfect planting cycles

CHAPTER 11: SELL SELL SELL

CHAPTER 12: Accountability

CHAPTER 13: Conclusion

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to acknowledge the help I received from God for this work. I want also to acknowledge the many counselors, friends, and protégées whose experiences shared with me over the past years, have added to and enriched my knowledge of this work. With a grateful heart, I want to acknowledge my wife Rebbecca Amartey-Amarh for her support, love, and encouragement and also my children Joy, Samuel John, and Victoria Queen whose support in diverse ways has not gone unnoticed.

I want to acknowledge all the reviewers, Mr. Joseph Amartey-Amarh, Mr. Williams Rich, Mr. Paul Otchere, and my dear sister Mrs. Hannah Abrahams-Appiah for their input and suggestions.

I am enthused to say a big thank you to the following for the priceless help they have given me in diverse ways to make this book a possibility and an available revelation for aspiring and seasoned farmers. Their names are Mr. Jacob Nii Lartey Ashong-Mettle, Mr. Bernard Avle, Mr. Colin Akohene, Mr. Kwabena Boateng, Mr. Prince Yiadom, Dr. Richmond Annan, Ms. Cherrie Johnson, Mr. Stanley Mwendar, Mr. Victor Gardner, Mr. Lawrence Ofori Appiah, and Ms. Vanessa Ricketts.

With joy, I want to further acknowledge The Bridge Entrepreneurs platform for giving me the opportunity to lead a session on this topic, thus leading to the birthing of this book. Ms. Mary Osei, Papa Danquah Arkhurst, Mr. Abeeku Entsua-Mensah, Mr. Nana Stephens, Mr. Tony Safo, Elorm Nyahe, and Ms. Abigail Adomako-Gyamfi are a few of my friends on the platform, who encouraged me to pen this book.

With an unspeakable joy, I want to acknowledge my farm partners, namely, Mr. Clifford Sackitey-Williams, Mr. Steven Kofi Baidoo, Mr. Thomas Gumbo, Mr. Reginald Muranda, and Mr. Tawanda Murove for all the farm knowledge and expertise they shared with me along the way.

In addition, I want to acknowledge Mr. Jeff Peed, Mr. Floyd Peed, Mr. James Dunn, and Mr. Gary Lagrange for all the farming knowledge, advice, and support that they gave to me.

I appreciate Rev. Dr. Esther Amartey-Amarh for painstakingly reviewing this project as well as encouraging me to fulfill God’s plan for my life, God richly bless you Mummy. I want to acknowledge, Pastor Samuel Amartey-Amarh for being an exemplary educationist, one whose life has served as a model to me and countless others. God bless you daddy. My final gratitude goes to my siblings, Joseph, Hannah, and Daniel who believed in God’s plan for my life and were there whenever I needed them. I say, thank you and God richly bless you.

DEDICATION

This pioneering book of mine on the efficacy and profitability of farming, with less capital, is dedicated to my wonderful and amazing parents, Pastor Samuel Amartey-Amarh and Rev. Dr. Esther Amartey- Amarh. Over the years, they have impacted me by their release of wisdom, illumination, insight, understanding, and revelatory knowledge about God and the world around us. This indelible impact of theirs has helped me in the writing of this book. Their countless prayers and love for me have caused me to be who I am today. I would love to mention that they also love farming just as I do. As a family, we have always tended a small farm around our home.

PRELUDE

It was in the early hours of Friday morning, at 6 am to be precise, when I was awakened by a phone call from Africa. This call was from my business colleague who wanted me to help her friend who needed an investor for his mining concession plot, which they had just begun to work on in the search for gold. My business colleague begged me to talk to him since he was serious, so she claimed. So, I reluctantly agreed to have a phone call with him as soon as possible.

He called minutes later, and he gave me the whole elevator pitch and why he needs an investor who will come in with millions of dollars to support their gold mining business. Surprisingly, the request for a business plan from him was to no avail and the plan to repay the investor was questionable. Still, I asked him to send me pictures or videos of the land and the report with the estimated value of gold in the land.

The video was received in a few