Leading from Behind: Ghana Knowledge Transfer Manager Jemima Djah
By Elijah Mwashayenyi, Head of Knowledge Transfer for Africa
On 1 April 2023, experienced agronomist Jemima Djah found herself at the helm of East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation’s nascent operation in Ghana. As the new Knowledge Transfer Manager, she was tasked with training a team of Technical Field Officers, setting up a learning site in Sunyani, and subsequently deploying the team in the Bono Region. Add the pressure of a new project with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Accra, and the result was a Knowlege Transfer Manager who needed to juggle a few balls in the air without panicking. Any other manager would have indeed panicked, but not Jemima.
As Cool as a Cucumber
Jemima is an agricultural expert with a master’s degree in crop science and very good experience in the Ghanaian horticulture sector. As cool as the proverbial cucumber, she is the epitome of calm. There are times I have said to colleagues that if a bomb went off right next to her, she would still not panic. She takes most things with a smile. That calm nature has been important to her team, which has had its challenges in the field—challenges that they have managed to ride through with the support of Jemima and Project Lead Kwadwo Donkor.
Growing in Leaps and Bounds
Since that day in 2023, Jemima has been leading a team that has been growing in leaps and bounds. In the first year, there were 6 Technical Field Officers and a Digital Media Intern. Two years on, the team has grown to 12 Technical Field Officers, a Project Lead, a Team Lead, a Technical Specialist, a Digital Media Associate, a Market Linkages Officer, and a Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Data Officer.
There are further prospects for expansion in number and geography; the team is eyeing northern Ghana, an area that—like many other places in Ghana—needs a combination of knowledge transfer and quality seeds.
Leading from Behind and Recognizing Effort
During Jemima’s interview for the position, we asked her about her leadership style. She said she leads from behind—but still knows what is happening at the front. That turned out to be very true. One can see it in the way she conducts herself. With a team of 12 field staff scattered across 14 districts in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions, and with her based in Accra, it is a method that works for her—as she (literally) cannot be in 14 places at the same time.
Jemima is well aware of the team’s activities and guides them in her strong but subtle way. She also recognizes effort, as exemplified by her introduction of end-of-year awards for outstanding staff.
Building Partnerships
Jemima recognizes that supporting smallholder farmers requires all hands on deck, not a one-organization show. To this end, she has been building partnerships and collaborating with other organizations, such as the Departments of Agriculture in the districts of operations, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Ghana, the Horticulture Innovation Lab at the University of Ghana, IDH, Agriterra, and the POMBI Platform, which brings together different actors in horticulture that are working with the Netherlands Embassy toward an innovative, sustainable, and competitive horticulture sector.
Taking experience from her HortiFresh days, Jemima has effectively made EWS-KT part and parcel of the horticulture community in Ghana. She has welcomed Assistant Field Trainers and Community Field Facilitators to support both Technical Field Officers and farmers for consistency and knowledge transfer sustainability.
On an Expansion Trajectory
After two years, Team Ghana is slowly coming into its element. It is important that the team is on the right trajectory, for it has a big mandate—not just in the regions where it is currently operating but in other regions that are earmarked for the future. With Jemima Djah leading the team (from behind), I am pretty sure they will get there.
Interested in learning more about our work in Ghana? Check out our Ghana page.
