The Agona East District Assembly will financially support vegetable growers at Asafo and other adjoining towns to promote the rural export and development programme.
Mr Dennis Armah-Frempong, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Agona East made this known when he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of Agona Asafo to climax the annual Akwanbo Festival.
He said the Economic and Development Sub-Committee of the Assembly had been tasked to team up with Agriculture Extension Officers under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to offer necessary technical assistance to vegetable farmers.
The DCE said the Assembly had also approved the 2020 budgetary allocation for the farmers, especially vegetable growers in the area, including Agona Asafo, Kwesi Twi Krom (KTK) Nyansakyere, Asamoakrom, Suromanya and surrounding towns to enable them to expand their farms.
He said Agona Asafo was one the areas that farmers had aggressively embarked on vegetable growing and there was the need for the Assembly to come to their aid to increase production for export.
The DCE said the decision by the Assembly to assist the farmers financially would also entice the youth to go into agriculture to increase productivity and poverty reduction.
Mr Armah-Frempong called on farmers to form cooperatives to enable them to receive financial support from Central Government, donors and the District Assembly without hindrance.
He said the Assembly had this year, supplied 90,000 hybrid Cocoa seedlings free of charge to more than 89 farmers in Agona East, as well as 120,000 dwarf coconut seedlings to farmers in the district, under the programme, as part of efforts to reduce poverty and entice the youth into farming.
According to Mr Armah-Frempong, the Assembly procured 80,000 hybrid palm oil seedlings for over 80 farmers to increase the supply of palm oil.
The DCE said government’s intention to support District Assemblies with resources to procure variety of seedlings was to ensure the creation of jobs and wealth among the farmers.
Professor Kwesi Yankah, Minister of State In charge of Tertiary Education expressed concern about the growing indiscipline exhibited during Akwambo Festivals and asked the chiefs and opinion leaders to call them to order those involved in such acts.
Prof. Yankah enumerated a number of feeder and highway roads awarded on contracts in the district to facilitate easy transport of goods and services, adding that, about 20 communities in the Agona East would soon be connected to the national grid under the Rural Electrification Project (REP).
Nana Yamfo Asuoko, Chief of Agona Asafo appealed to government to re-construct the Agona Swedru/Awutu Bawjiase, Adeiso roads, which had been halted for more than six years.
The chief said the bad nature of the road had prevented many commercial drivers from plying the road, adding that, it was seriously affecting the day-to-day activities of the people on that stretch of the road.
He said the chiefs and people had started the construction of a community centre as the project for this year’s Akwambo Festival.
Mr Armah-Frempong
