Collins Ntim (2nd right) and Kojo Aquah (3rd left) with some staff of the assembly at the site of the project
The Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) in the Western Region is investing about GH¢100,000 to nurse close to 10,000 each of improved and disease-free oil palm and coconut seedlings free of charge for distribution to farmers in the municipality for planting.
The project is being initiated with part of the assembly’s common fund and internally generated funds. The assembly has already distributed 2,000 and 3,000 coconut and oil palm seedlings respectively to the farmers.
The initiative, which is under the government’s Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), is aimed at promoting rural economic growth and improving household incomes of rural farmers through the provision of certified improved seedlings.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Kojo Aquah, revealed this when the Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Augustine Collins Ntim, visited the site for the project at Assakae, a farming community in the municipality to assess the progress of work.
The MCE explained that the assembly established the coconut and oil palm nurseries based on the preference of the farmers and the ecological conditions of the area.
He indicated that the economic potential of the two crops had been found to be enormous. According to him, the government’s PERD programme also seeks to create sustainable raw material base to spur up the decentralized industrialization drive through the ‘One District, One Factory (1D1F)’ initiative.
He stressed that the implementation of the programme would reduce poverty and improve livelihood in the municipality. The deputy minister lauded the assembly and the MCE for the seriousness they had attached to the project which would create employment for the youth and also improve on the local economy.
He believed that the move would help establish a sustainable raw material base for the industrialization agenda of the government as well as the 1D1F programme.
“We want to avoid the mistakes of the previous government that established the Komenda Sugar Factory without the needed raw materials and to date the factory is still not functioning.
“The assembly is distributing the seedlings free of charge and the municipality would benefit from it in the near future. We are building the future of the municipality, the region and the country as a whole to help achieve the President’s Ghana beyond agenda,” he stressed.
The Municipal Director of Agriculture, Fredrick Ansah, explained that the comparative advantage of the municipality were oil palm and coconut, hence the assembly’s decision to nurse the seedlings for onward distribution to the beneficiary farmers towards the realization of the government’s vision.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Assakae