Integrated Tamale Fruit Company is a Ghanaian based company in the agro-forestry industry. ITFC has its head offices in Gushie, 45 Kilometres north of Tamale on the Bolgatanga trunk road in the Northern Region. Incorporated in 1999, the main activities of ITFC include the cultivation of organic grafted mangos, the nursing of seedlings and the promotion of indigenous species of trees. The climate of the region is ideal for mango cultivation. ITFC’s nucleus farm and nursery is in the village of Dipale in Savelugu/ Nanton district.
The nucleus farm, cultivates 155 hectares of certified organic mango and 20 hectares of Jathropha. The farm is partitioned into 16 equal blocks which are planted with four varieties of mango, namely Kent, Keitt, Amelie and Zille. 

ITFC uses a micro-irrigation system, meaning there is one sprinkler per plant. This system allows every plant to receive the required amount of water. The water is pumped directly from the White Volta River, and passes through a filtration system before reaching the sprinklers.

ITFC has employed qualified personnel with requisite experience to manage the plantation, as well as sourced workers from the surrounding communities. It is expected that the organic agricultural methods used by the nucleus plantation will be transferred to the surrounding communities through the outgrowers scheme, which is also certified organic.

Interview

N&M: How long has ITFC been working with outgrowers such as yourself?
Ayishatu: ITFC has been supporting subsistence growers in the communities surrounding the nucleus farm with small-scale mango production since 2000. In the initial stages of the outgrowers scheme, ITFC was supporting seventy-five growers, with funds provided by the Dutch government.

N&M How many outgrowers are currently involved in the outgrowers scheme?
Ayishatu: At the moment ITFC is assisting 1,400 growers with funds from numerous initiatives including the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 

N&M: What exactly happens with the funding?
Ayishatu: ITFC supports the growers with a long-term, no interest loan in the form of inputs to be used only for farming one acre of organic mango. ITFC has a contractual agreement with the growers. The costs of the inputs are charged to the respective grower accounts and over a period of 5 years, the growers are responsible to pay back part of these expenses each year at the time of harvest.  The grower will pay 30% of his income towards the total expenses owed.
The growers work in groups and each grower must provide one bag of maize as a registration fee and a sign of commitment. ITFC provides one assistant manager for every 400 growers and one field assistant for every forty growers. The assistant managers and field assistants provide the growers with the necessary advice and record keeping to successfully farm organic mangoes.

N&M: What is expected of the growers in return?
Ayishatu: It is the responsibility of the growers to provide labour on their farms such as digging, fencing, weeding and watering. ITFC provides the technical aspects of farming organic mangoes such as disease and pest control, pruning or shaping of the trees and water provision twice a week during the dry season. During the rainy season ITFC strongly encourages the growers to intercrop with ground nuts, not only as a cover crop to promote farm hygiene and for its nitrogen fixing benefits, but also as an intermediate income benefit to the grower. 

N&M: So what happens during harvest?
Ayishatu: Once the trees have reached maturity and they begin to fruit, ITFC will provide the growers with the technical assistance to harvest and transport the fruits to be packed in the company's packing station. ITFC consequently ensures the mangos are marketed according to clear arrangement between the company and the individual outgrowers.

N&M: So what exactly is OMOA?
Ayishatu: OMOA stands for Organic Mango Outgrowers Association. The organisation was formed as a means of internal control and to collectively negotiate for the benefit of all. The association has an executive body, which participates in decision-making on behalf of the growers and represents the growers when holding discussions with ITFC and other donor organisations