Volta Regional Minister in white
Five districts in the Volta region will soon become coconut growing hubs after the government responded to the call of farmers in the area to support the venture.
In light of this, about 26,416 coconut seedlings have been distributed to farmers in Afadzato South District, Ho West District, Adaklu District, Ketu South Municipal and the Ketu North Municipal.
The project which was recently launched at the premises of the Regional Department of Agriculture is geared towards reviving coconut cultivation and commercialisation to improve the incomes of famers in the Region and the country.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa during the launch said “cultivation and sales of coconut have become a lucrative and high income generation business not only for farmers but several others along the coconut value chain.”
He added that it is for this reason the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) was promoting coconut cultivation in coconut- growing regions for domestic consumption and more importantly exportation under the Coconut Revitalization Programme.
Furthermore, the programme is under the Agric Ministry’s Policy on Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD).
The hope is that raw coconut and its related finished products will be fully exploited to become another key source of foreign exchange to diversify the economy as the country strives towards its ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda.
Dr. Letsa therefore appealed to the people of the region to embrace the programme and participate widely so as to reduce the level of unemployment especially in the rural and peri-urban areas.
The Regional Officer of GEPA, Hope Amrado, said since coconut had been identified as one of the non-traditional crops that could be promoted for export and income, the Authority is providing all the necessary resources to adequately promote it across the country. Some of these include, provision of seedlings and technical support to farmers with the help of the Department of Agriculture.
Another measure to ensure success is signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Authority and the beneficiary farmers to use the seedlings properly and ensure their survival.
This is to prevent the selling and smuggling of the seedlings into neighbouring countries and also ensure only committed farmers were engaged.
The Regional Director of Department of Food and Agriculture, Delali Nutsokpo, said he and his team, especially members of the Regional Coconut Revitalization Programme Committee; including Delali Ndo, Chris Amponsah Sackey, Theresa Nyamekye, and Duncan Amoah will do all that was required of them and more to ensure the success of the programme.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)