Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah (6th from left) in a photograph with some of the farmers
Over 500 acres of cassava are being cultivated to feed an industrial starch factory to be established in the Wassa Amenfi East Municipality of the Western Region.
The factory, which is expected to commence operations by the end of the year under the government’s ‘One District, One Factory (1D1F)’ policy, is being established by the Amenfi Farms Ghana Limited in the municipality.
The farm currently employs about 100 workers. According to the managers of the farm, the number of workers will increase when the factory begins production.
Speaking to journalists, Moses Kwabena Boakye, Community Relations Officer of Amenfi Farms, pointed out that currently the site for the factory had been cleared.
He, therefore, gave an assurance that the industrial starch factory would start operations by the end of this year.
Tour
A visit by the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah and some journalists to the area yesterday revealed that already the over 500 acres of cassava to feed the factory are approaching their harvesting period.
The regional minister praised the farmers for strategically following the planning process by planting the raw materials before the factory was established.
“Planting the cassava was a brilliant move by the farmers so that by the time the factory is ready, the materials will be available”, he indicated.
He noted that there was no better job than farming and urged the youth to take advantage of the government’s 1D1F and Planting for Food and jobs (PFJ) programmes to create jobs for themselves and employ others.
He promised that his outfit would make sure that the factory had stable and constant power supply and the road leading to the factory would also be constructed as part of the package of one district, one factory.
He urged the company to continue to strictly adhere to best agronomic practices to enable it to get the required raw materials to feed the factory.
The Municipal Chief Executive of Wassa Amenfi East, Helena Appiah, was hopeful that the company would continue to expand its cassava farms and engage more out-growers to ensure that it got enough raw materials to operate all-year round once it started production.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Wassa Akropong