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Nana Darko Montwi II^[1] (Dr. Yiadom Kwasi Atta-Konadu) was a Ghanaian agricultural economist and Paramount Chief to Otumfuo, the Asantehene.

Nana Darko Montwi II was born on 12 April 1938 in Sunyani in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana to Nana Amofa Gyasehene aka Kwaku Osei-Kuffour and Yaa Minka. He completed his early education at the Abuakwa State College in 1955 and his secondary education at Achimota School in 1957. He proceeded to the University of Ghana from 1958 to 1961^[2] where he earned a B.Sc. in Economics. He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1966 with an M.Sc in Agricultural Economics. Nana Darko Montwi II pressed on to complete his PhD in Agricultural Economics at the Michigan State University^[3].

His initial experience started through an appointment as an Agricultural Economist, Ministry of Food and Agriculture to assist the Honorable J.H. Mensah to prepare Kwame Nkrumah’s seven year development plan. He rose through the ranks to become Senior Agricultural Economists, Principal Agricultural Economists, Chief Agricultural Economists, and Director of Agricultural Economy. In 1981, he was promoted to Principal Secretary and posted to the then Kumasi City Council where he doubled as Acting Executive Chairman and City Manager. In 1984, he was reposted to the Ministry of Agriculture as Acting Chief Director where he served as the alderman for implementing government programs.

Nana Darko Montwi II laid the groundwork for the establishment of agricultural statistical services in Ghana. His subsequent actions led to the following:

1. The establishment of Agricultural Sector Studies in Ghana in 1969
2. Installation of Program Performance Budgetary System (PPBS)
3. Planned and carried out baseline studies and actions that led to;
   • Upper Region Agricultural Development Project (URADEP) financed by the World Bank
   • Volta Region Agricultural Development Project (VORADEP) financed by the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural development (IFAD) and the Government of Ghana (GoG)
   • Agricultural Services Rehabilitation Projects financed by the World Bank and GoG.
   • Smallholder Rehabilitation and Development Project (SRDP) financed by IFAD. Nana Darko Montwi II joined a team of Ghanaian consultants in Rome Italy, to negotiate for the credit and returned to Ghana to defend the credit at the Public Agreements Board, Attorney General’s Department
   • He designed baseline studies for IFAD Financed Smallholder, Credit, Input Supply and Marketing Project, and led a team of consultants to carry out Mid Term Review of the project.
   • He was the Desk Officer for the World bank financed “Agricultural Sector Rehabilitation Project”. Nana Darko Montwi II was a team member of the project negotiations that met the World bank in Washington in April 1987, and later defended the credit at the Public Agreements Boad at the office of the Attorney General, Accra.
4. In 1978/79, he was an Honorable Member of the 1978/1979  Constituent Assembly representing the Ahafo Ano District Assembly.
5. Nana Darko Montwi II was also honoured with the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship award for a study tour of the USA business establishments.

In 1977, while working as the Chief Agricultural Economists and Director of Agricultural Economy at Ministry of Agriculture, Nana Darko Montwi II was enstooled as the chief of Mabang Traditional area. In 1996, Nana Darko Montwi II was elevated to a Paramount Chief by the Asantehene, Opoku Ware II. He emphasized the promotion of education and infrastructure development to help his people. Mabang currently has a burgeoning Senior Secondary School and Habitat for Humanity Housing Projects. Under his leadership, the Mabang Traditional Council donated 700acres to the Ghana COCOBOD for research in Phytophthora megakarya and the production of black pod resistant seedlings by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, which led to the creation of several local jobs. Nana Darko Montwi also spearheaded a joint venture with Bambusa Ghana for the establishment of a Bamboo Care Company. The partnership was set up to produce biomass which will be processed to generate electricity, diesel, petrol and activated carbon cheaply for the nation.

He eschewed Christian and traditional virtues, and embraced Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Nana Darko Montwi II was survived by his wife Esther Atta-Konadu with whom he had 3 children. He also had 5 other children from previous marriages. Nana Darko Montwi II exhibited exemplary qualities in soccer and athletics, and was the captain of the University of Ghana’s Soccer team in 1961. He featured in athletic and soccer teams at Achimota School as well. With the support of the Director of Sports Mr. Ohene Djan, Nana Darko Montwi II established the Ghana Academics Football Club.

In his latter years, Nana Darko Montwi II was fervently at the forefront of promoting energy crop farming, reforestation, afforestation and biodiversity. He established a framework for a pragmatic path to green energy through the adoption and cultivation of high-yield imported bamboo, Shea Butter, and sweet stem sorghum to yield biofuels, bioelectricity and activated carbon. He died on February 2, 2021 after a short illness.

In 1969, Nana Darko Montwi II received the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship to pursue his PhD in Agricultural Economics. Nana Darko Montwi II also received the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) award in June 1969 to participate in the Household Consumption Surveys in Moscow, USSR.

Nana Darko Montwi II participated in several international conferences including:

• Conference International Association of Agriculture Economists (Lyin, France in 1964);
• American Agricultural Economics Association (Columbus, USA, 1970);
• International Association of Agricultural Economists (Kenya, 1975);
• FAO Regional Conference for Africa (Freetown Sierra Leone);
• Chairman, FAO Commission on Agricultural Statistics (Accra, 1978); FAO Conference for Africa (Arusha, Tanzania, 1976);
• FAO Expert Consultation in Integrated Rural Development Planning (Kenya, 1979);
• FAO Regional Conference for Africa, Lome Togo, 1980);
• FAO Committee on World Food Security (Rome, Italy 1981);
• World Bank Seminars in Price Policies (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1985);
• German Foundation for Economic Development; Price Policy Issue Conference (Berlin, 1985);
• Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau (CAB) Conference (London, U.K, 1985);
• Commonwealth Secretariat; Colloquium on Agricultural policy in Commonwealth Africa (Harare Zimbabwe, 1986);
• IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development Governors’ Conference in Rom (1986);
• FAO Biennial Conference in Rome (1987), Nana was with the negotiating team to meet the World Bank to negotiate the Agricultural Services Rehabilitation and Development Project (USA, 1987) and returned to Ghana to negotiate for the acceptance of the credit at the Public Agreements Board at the Attorney General’s Office (1987).
• In November-December 1989, Nana Darko Montwi II was in IFAD, Rome to undertake a contract to update and edit IFAD special programming mission report on Ghana for publication.
• In 2002, Nana Darko Montwi II accompanied Otumfuo, the Asantehene to the USA where among other things Otumfuo initiated the PPTAP agreement with the World Bank. Nana Darko Montwi II was a member of the Oversight Steering Committee to successfully implement the project in Ashanti and Akim-Abuakwa Traditional Area.
• As a member of Otumfuo’s delegation to China in 2006, the visit helped to promote Asanteman Chieftaincy overseas and promote development for Ashanti and Ghana in general.

• Statistical Service Board, Ghana (1982)
• Agricultural Development Bank (1984 - MC);
• Ghana Oil Palm Development Corporation (M - 1984);
• Volta Region Agricultural Development Project (VORADEP - 1984);
• Member of the Review Committee for the Ghana Investment Code (1985);
• Ghana Tobacco Company (1986);
• Member of Divestiture Implementation Committee (1987);
• Task Force on employment generation under SAC II (1988);
• Soils Research Institute (2001);
• Asanteman Standing Committee (2001-2015);
• Oversight Committee for PPTAP (GOG/World Bank, 2004);
• Steering Committee of Urban Development Plan for Greater Kumasi (2013).

Nana Darko Montwi II produced over 190 papers for publications, seminars, workshops and monographs on agricultural development, food supply, marketing statistics, program performance budgeting, planning, monitoring and evaluation, etc.