The Grasscutter Initiative for Rural Transformation (GIFT), had acquired certification to process the grasscutter meat into canned food, providing a ready market for the farmers.
Enhancing the farmers' knowledge and ability to increase the grasscutter production would also enhance their income fortunes and nutritional status.

The training was organised by GIFT on the theme: "Innovative Feed Selection for Grasscutter: Maximising Efficiency and Availability".
Its centrality on feed formulation for the grasscutter stemmed was because feed was one of the major challenges farmers in the region faced.

Professor Miho Murayama, the Director of GIFT, at the workshop explained the potential of grasscutter farming in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as "No Poverty, "No Hunger", "Gender Equality, and environmental conservation.
She explained that the Grasscutter project was launched in 2014 with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to promote grasscutter domestication over a three-year period.

The project was premised on the concept of improving livestock production to serve as an alternative to wildlife consumption, contribute to sustainable food production and natural resource management.
The Ajinomoto Foundation supported the project from 2018 to 2024 to improve nutritional knowledge and to support grasscutter breeding, she said.

Prof. Murayama said GIFT had begun promoting the cultivation of moringa to improve the nutrition of humans and grasscutter as well as assisting farmers in constructing breeding sheds and cages to enhance grasscutter production.

She thanked all partners including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ajinomoto Foundation, JSPS Bilateral Programmes, Innovate UK, KAKENHI AND JICA for their support for the project.

Mr Francis Kamara, the Upper West Regional Livestock Officer, said there had been a significant transformation in the grasscutter initiative in the region since its inception in 2014.
He observed that domestication and increased grasscutter production would also help reduce hunting and its attendant consequence of bush burning.

Dr Titus S. S. Dery, the Regional Manager of GIFT, encouraged farmers to resort to eco-feed production for animals including grasscutter and poultry, to help meet the nutritional needs for the animals' growth.

Eco-feed consists of a mixture of agricultural by-products, grasses, and fermented products such as 'pito' mash to produce pellets to feed animals.
He said apart from helping in the growth of the animals, improving their health and productivity, it was also environmentally friendly.

Dr Christopher Adenyo of the Livestock and Poultry Research Centre, University of Ghana, took the participants through the status of grasscutter taming in Ghana and how the farmers could assess the tameness level of their animals.

The farmers were also introduced to the pelleting machine to produce feed for the animals.
Some grasscutter farmers at the training lauded the initiative, especially the pellet production and eco-feed formulation as that would help reduce their challenges in feeding their animals.

Madam Sophia Digbang, a farmer in Wa, said she would complement her traditional ways of feeding the grasscutter with grasses and pellets for improved production.

Mr Sukyir Bowuo, also a farmer from Jirapa, testified that the grasscutter production had provided him with financial security and thanked GIFT for the new knowledge to enhance his production.