SNV Netherland commissions five businesses in Western and Western North Regions of Ghana

The European Union Project has commissioned five sustainable businesses in the Western and Western north Regions as part of the European Union in Ghana-funded, Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) Project, implemented by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in Ghana.
The five businesses commissioned included Mending Papers, Antanah Farms, A.A Community Spring Water, Waterforce Ventures, and Roland Rice.

Mending Papers is a paper and package-making company that processes farm waste such as plantain and banana stems, corn husks and other produce into paper bags in Tarkwa.
It was officially commissioned to utilize innovative recycling techniques and sustainable materials, to reduce waste, conserve natural resources, and promote a circular economy.
Mending Papers was one of the five businesses to receive a matching grant from the 2021 GrEEn Innovation Challenge by the GrEEn Project, to create jobs and increase production from 50 bags to 300 bags after being awarded a EUR 25,000 (equivalent of GHS 175,000) matching grant by the European Union as part of the Project.


Through this grant, the company has purchased a solar dryer, a borehole, and new equipment to scale the paper production of the company.


According to the CEO of Mending Papers, “I could not have achieved this great feat without the intervention of the GrEEn Project and the EU. Before, Ghana was known as the Gateway to Africa, but we do not hear that these days. Rwanda is now in the limelight, and it is because they have abandoned plastic bags and have adopted the use of paper bags. That is my vision for Ghana and the reason I came up with these eco-friendly alternatives for manufacturing my bags.”



Antanah Farms


An integrated farm that is nursing poultry birds, catfish and tilapia fingerlings, pigs, and crops such as maize, cassava, and plantain commissioned an odor-free piggery made possible using a solution known as Indigenous Micro Organism (IMO) technology and sawdust was next business commissioned in Tarkwa.
Through this solution, the company decomposes the waste from the pigs which is converted into compost and used as organic fertilizer for his crop.
Through the GHS 100,000 grant awarded to the company from the EU, he is also working on making his own fish feed and pellets.
The CEO of Antana Farms, Joeh Antana said “I decided to use sawdust as beddings for the pigs because of the environmental impacts of burning. When you go to a sawmill, the sawdust is heaped and burned, some are also washed into the gutters, and this causes harm to the environment. The sawdust beddings have also contributed to the neatness of my pigsty. There is no bad smell when you visit my farm.”
He added that “over the years, I realized that though we needed manure to fertilize our soils, applying the raw pig excrement to the farm was very dangerous as it can sometimes even destroy all the crops around, so this technology not only helps me to keep the smell away but serves as manure for all the crops and vegetables.”

A.A Community Spring Water
A.A Community Spring Water joined the GrEEn Project and was supported with GHS 80,000 to scale up the business to increase its business operations by providing water to communities in the Aowin Municipality.
At Yiwabra on Tuesday, May 23, Amos Arthur, CEO of A.A. Community Spring Water commissioned a solar-powered water production system funded by the European Union and servicing over 350 households in the Yiwabra Nkwanta, Yiwabra and Nyakamam communities affected by illegal mining activities with plans underway to expand into other communities.

Water Force Ventures
Nana Yaa Manu runs Waterforce Ventures which produces organic soap and has increased her capacity from 20 pieces to 1,800 weekly supplies and launched a new production site from a GHS 95,000 grant provided to her as part of the GrEEn Project. Nana Yaa is currently employing over 32 job seekers and women in the Kejabil community where the production site is located.
Through training provided by the GrEEn project and its partners, Nana Yaa has obtained an Exporter’s Certificate, and is now successfully exporting her products.
“I have started exporting some of my soaps to Nigeria, some parts of South Africa, and London. There are individuals who take the soaps to London for use in their enterprises and I aim to establish a more stable market base in London, allowing me to expand my exports and contribute to sustainable practices on a global scale”, she said.

Roland Rice
Jesse Roland Prah is one of the local rice producers in the Shama District in the Western Region who has been supported by the GrEEn Innovation Challenge. Provided with a EUR 25,000 grant from the European Union, Roland Rice commissioned a newly constructed rice processing facility on a two-acre land in Anto on Thursday, 25th May 2023.
Equipped with a rice mill, de-stoner, a rice de-husker, polisher, and a pelletizer machine to convert the rice husk into feed for pigs, the commissioning was attended by representatives from SNV Ghana, the Western Regional Minister and a high-level delegation from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The factory is expected to create jobs for youth in the district and would also provide local rice growers access to a mill to improve rice production in the region.
All 5 entrepreneurs, aside from receiving grants from the GrEEn Project, are also graduates of the Project’s 6-month GrEEn Incubation Programme.