admin | July 31, 2026
News Brief
For years, Fuseini Abdul-Mumin watched his crops die — not from drought or pests, but from his own hands. Every season, he applied what he believed was compost to his fields in Libga, a farming community in Ghana's Northern Region. Every season, the soil burned his plants. But after listening to a farmer program on Zaa FM he learned why: he was actually applying animal dung directly to the soil, burning the crop roots at their base. He now prepares composted manure in a pit, combining cow dung with ash, neem leaves, and groundnut shells. He keeps it moist and turns it, just like farmers from a nearby district explained on the radio.
For years, Fuseini Abdul-Mumin watched his crops die — not from drought or pests, but from his own hands. Every season, he applied what he believed was compost to his fields in Libga, a farming community in Ghana’s Northern Region. Every season, the soil burned his plants. He kept farming, kept applying, and kept losing yields — without ever knowing why.
Mr. Abdul-Mumin has farmed 19 acres of land in Libga and a neighbouring community for most of his adult life. He grows maize, soybeans, garden eggs, and pepper, and keeps cattle, sheep, and goats penned at the entrance to his compound. With livestock and crops side by side, he had access to what many small-scale farmers in the Guinea Savannah belt can only aspire to: a ready supply of animal dung.
For years, he collected that dung and spread it directly on his fields. He was trying to do the right thing — to feed his soil naturally, reduce his dependence on expensive chemical fertilizers, and improve his harvests. But his crops kept dying after every application.
He explains that he was going about it the wrong way: “I had been applying the animal dung directly without adding other raw materials.” The heat it generated as it broke down was burning his crop roots at the base. But for years he did not know what he was doing wrong. No one in Libga had told him. And without the right information, he could not change.
But, thanks to a farmer program on Zaa FM, he now has the right information on good composting practices. Zaa FM broadcasts in Northern Region, Ghana, in local languages, and works to time their programming with the farming calendar, so that what farmers hear on air is relevant to what they are doing in their fields. The program regularly features farmer groups sharing their experience: what works, what did not, and how they do it. Zaa FM has been a long-time partner of Farm Radio International, and was one of many radio stations participating in the On Air for Gender-inclusive Nature-based Solutions project.
One of the episodes featured a farmer group from Sagbeu in Tolon district. They explained step by step how they prepare composted manure: digging a pit; combining cow dung with ash, neem leaves, dried grass, old thatch, food waste, and groundnut shells; inserting a stick to monitor internal heat; turning the heap regularly; and waiting a full eight weeks for the compost to cool before applying it around the farm.
Mr. Abdul-Mumin was listening. And as he heard the farmers from Sabeu share their methods, he better understood what might have been causing years of crop failure.
Mr. Abdul-Mumin gathered his household and shared what he had heard. He explained what they needed to do differently: about the heat generated by raw dung, why adding other organic materials matters.
His wife and children helped him to collect dung from the animal pens and placed it in a compost pit he dug. They fetched water to keep the compost moist during dry spells. They swept neem leaves from around the compound into the pit rather than discarding them.
His wife went further. She suggested placing groundnut shells in the livestock pens so the animals would trample them and mix them with the dung before it was added to the compost — a practical local innovation that improved the material quality before the pit stage even began. Mr. Abdul-Mumin followed her advice.
Mr. Abdul-Mumin’s process now runs year-round with help from the whole household. When a batch is ready before the planting season, Mr. Abdul-Mumin loosely covers it with a plastic sheet, which will keep the pile from becoming too dry or too waterlogged. It’s important to allow for airflow, as the microbes in the compost require oxygen.
In his first season using this new composting method, Mr. Abdul-Mumin applied it to one acre of maize. That year, the region experienced drought and other plots withered. His acre held moisture and continued to grow until the rains returned.
The impact on the garden eggs was even more measurable. Previously he harvested 39 bags from a half-acre, but with the new compost, he harvested 61 bags. Each bag weighs 50 kilograms and sells for 150 Ghana cedis.
His wife is also using the compost on her vegetable plot, and the jute leaves and other vegetables are growing well – and selling well. The income she generates helps to cover the family’s living expenses, including university for one child.
