The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr. Owusu Afriye Akoto, has expressed appreciation for the concerted effort of farmers within Volta Region for sharing knowledge with smallholder farmers.
He gave the commendation on Friday, November 4, 2022 at the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) in the Volta Region, applauding the farmers for having embraced the initiative of Planning for Food and Jobs (PFJ).
He said contrary to the political position held by farmers in the region at onset of the programme – for which reason farmers in the region were one of the late group of farmers to wholly embrace the initiative – the programme has chalked up great success.
He said regardless of the initiative’s late acceptance, the region had unearthed great agricultural potential in rice, oil palm and maize production. In addition, Dr. Afriye Akoto remarked that wholly accepting the projects has led to unearthing the region as a good destination for huge pineapple plantations.
Consequently, he tasked the Regional Agriculture Director, William Dzamefe, to fashion-out measures to bring all satellite pineapple producers in the region under one umbrella. The aim, he noted, is enabling farmers to tap into the rich knowledge, skills and markets of Kaleawo Ltd. – a large-scale pineapple production, packaging and exporting company.
He indicated that this company started its operations in the Central Region, but had to look for other destinations due to excessive land-grabbing by real-estate developers.
Presenting the overview of progress for agricultural growth in the region, the Regional Agricultural Director, Mr. Dzamefe, noted that his outfit is committed to attending to concerns of farmers in the region.
On his part, the Farm Manager for Kaleawo Ltd., Mr. Seidu Labaran Mohammed, appealed for support in the area of inputs, such as fertiliser and planting materials. He explained that such a move will lessen the burden imposed by inflation on farmers.
