I am Mr John Donkor, the founder of PWG Farms. A Ghanaian born into a family of peasant farmers in the Ahanta Western Region of Ghana. My ancestors were prolific farmers and fishermen and as a child my daily routine included farming activities cultivating a range of vegetables, root, palm and fruits.

Many of our family members weren’t educated except for a few. I decided to study alongside my farming trade and later graduated and became a school teacher in the community.

It was during my teaching assignment that I was introduced to the Lavender perfume farm by on uncle of mine. I was so intrigued by the lavender farm, and the perfume and aroma of the plant that my passion for essential oil began.

I continued to teach but at the same time decided to investigate further about essential oil plants and cultivation. It wasn’t long that I met a man who operated a Citronella farm at the time. He kindly agreed to give me 3 bags of Citronella grass planting materials to start a small farm.

In the latter part of 1993, as a part-time farmer alongside my teaching, I took the planting kit and planted my first Citronella farm.  I began experimenting with the grass with aim of finding ways to increase crop growth and oil yield. Initially the grass was dried in the sun and taken to a local factory for the distillation and extraction. The amount of oil that was produced was very disappointing and the money received was also very discouraging. On investigation, I discovered the grass may have been over dried prior to distilling. However, as the yield increased on the next round, the actual money received form the farmer was still low. There was nowhere else in the area I could go.

The following year in 1994 I made the decision to purchase my own distilling drum. The drum was quite small, but it was a start. It meant I had more control on the distilling process and I could experiment in ways to improve the process and the yield. The size of the drum meant I could only produce half a beer bottle per process. Whilst discouraging, I persevered and continued to assess and improve on each process.

In 1996 I decided to create a bigger distilling pot. I purchased 4 smaller drums and welded them together to create a single large distilling pot, this was ground-breaking at the time. The new distilling pot could now produce over 3 beer bottles per process. This was a great improvement but still too low to be a viable business proposition.

In 1996 during a National Farmers Day convention at Asiama in the Western Region of Ghana, our Citronella Oil was used to create soap which was demonstrated to people at the convention. This amased excitement and curiosity among the visiting delegates and farmers alike due to the benefits of the Citronella oil in the soap.

During that same convention I met another man who requested a meeting to discuss the potential of the Citronella Oil. The man was the regional manager of Takoradi Intermediate Technology Unit (TITU), now renamed as the Gratis Foundation.

The man I met promised to help develop and potentially raise investment for the farm. True to his word, the man turned up one afternoon with another gentleman to inspect how our business was being operated. After the inspection they asked us to write a proposal outlining our needs and investment requirements. We did that accordingly and waited for their response.

It was two long years later in 1998 that we finally heard back from the gentleman from the TITU. The gentleman asked all those that were growing Citronella Grass to fill out forms in order to apply for funding. By this time and during the last two years many farmers that had ventured into the Citronella Farming had lost hope and decided to give up. This was partly because they weren’t getting sufficient payment for their oil from the buyers.

But after a long search, I managed to find a handfull of small Citronella growers who were still persevering who agreed to come together to form a group. The formation of the group allowed Mr Inkum’s TITU to provide funding for the construction of 15 distillation canopies in the region. Not all the farmers were able to accept the new distillation canopies as each farmer was required to pay GHc22Million (old cedis) towards the cost of a complete system.

Fortunately we were able to acquire one of the distillation systems and were the first farm to have it fully installed. The new system was able to serve 23 other farmers for a while.

Fifteen months after the installation of the new system, we had a setback. The pot started to corrode and leak. The pot had been made of mild steel and could not withstand the demanding process. The TITU was informed and they sent people to repair it with galvanised steel, but again this didn’t last long and it started to leak after a very short time.

The setback meant that our farm and all the other neighbouring farms relying on our system could no longer distill using the system.

In 2002 I was invited to the UK for a family member’s wedding blessing and it was during that visit that I was able to source some additional funds from friends and relatives. This small sum of money was a real God send. On return back to Ghana, the money I sourced along with every penny of money I had was given as a down payment for the manufacture of a brand new Steel based distilling pot.

Over a period of time, our farm worked hard and gave every little bit of money we made towards the new distillation pot and after a few months we were able to bring the new pot back to our farm.

As you can imagine all the local growers were extremely jubilant of the new pot. We could now control our own production once again. Due to the trust the farmers had in us, they began bringing their citronella grass to us for distilling. This was a major boost to us and all the farmers around.

The new distilling drum and its pipes were all made of stainless steel which meant that it was stronger and of higher quality and would last much longer.

As the business grew, we were able to acquire a 20 Acre plot of land and plantation began at this new farm. When the grass grew, it became difficult to transport the grass all the way to where the new distilling pot was based. So we made a decision to move the entire distilling system and relocated it at the new 20 acre farm. This made it much easier for us, but unfortunately it meant that some of the other farmers were no longer able to bring their grass to us.

As word got out of our quality distilling system, more farmers began growing the Citronella grass and were able to provide a source of income to take care of their families. This was quite important to us, as my desire was to help lift as many families out of poverty as possible.

As more farmers recognised the benefits of Citronella Essential Oil and the potential opportunities for job creation, they turned to Citronella farming. As Citronella Farmers we have been operating a farming association of growers which is constantly expanding.

In 2013 our association is now being formally created as Ghana Essential Oil Trade Association (GEOTA). We are founding members and instrumental in creating GEOTA.

GEOTA is made up of essential oil farmers, traders and manufacturers with the aim of providing a support and educational system for the members. It will also allow the farmers to seek outside help and funding in a more organised and structured way so that any funding given goes directly to the farmers rather than any middle organisation. It also serves to provide a single voice for the industry, and provides help, guidance, and information for the development and growth of the essential oil industry as a whole.

We are at a juncture now where there is a clear demand for essential oil especially Citronella oil due to its powerful uses as insect repellent, cleaning aid and so much more.

We need funds and resources to grow our industry and are encouraging investors and funders to get in touch with us. Many farmers now rely on the industry as a source of income.

For more information on how you can Support PWG Citronella Farms please click here