Member of Parliament for Upper Manya Krobo in the Eastern region, Hon Joseph Tetteh has celebrated what he calls the high cassava production in his constituency.
According to Hon Tetteh who doubles as the Eastern regional minister, farmers in the Upper Manya Krobo district are not resting their oars but are ready to produce more.
Speaking to Rite news, the law-maker said, “Cassava production in Upper Manya Krobo is very high and farmers are poised to produce more to feed the gari processing factory to be set up in the area through the government flagship policy, ‘one district, one factory’ policy,” he said.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has already approved a project proposal for the establishment of a Cassava Processing factory in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern region under the One -District -One Factory Policy.
The factory will be located at Takorase near Sekesua in the Upper Manya Krobo District in the Eastern Region.
The District Chief Executive for Upper Manya, Hon. Odjao Felix Nartey said the factory is “expected to create over 100 direct and indirect employment for the people.”
According to him, “the Assembly has captured the initiative in its 2018 budget and an amount of Ghc100, 000 allocated to it.”
The Member of Parliament disclosed that to aid farmers enhance cassava production, new varieties of maize have been introduced to the farmers.
“We have introduced new varieties of cassava that have good yield and the farmers are running after it and this is very encouraging,” he said.
The deputy minister expressed contentment with the enthusiasm of farmers and anticipated that there is regular supply of raw materials from the farmers for the smooth operations of the factory.
“I’m impressed with the enthusiasm of the farmers and I’m very sure the factory will run smoothly throughout the year without any shortage of raw materials,” he said.
Honourable Joseph Tetteh who regretted the low income generation of maize for the district disclosed that the shortfall in revenue pushed for the cultivation of cassava as an alternative.
He explained that government’s flagship policy, ‘one district one factory’ is encouraging a lot of people to go into agriculture “because they know that their farm produce will be absorbed to feed the factory which will be the first step to reduce post-harvest losses in the country.”
Hon Joseph Tetteh further disclosed that numerous plans had been listed to support most especially the youth and others who have interest in agriculture to get raw materials to feed the factory.
He expressed the readiness of the district for the commencement of the program as the district wait for the government to cut sod for the commencement of construction works.
The mainstay occupation of the people of the district are farming, fishing and trading.
The district is endowed with arable and fertile land making crop farming a viable business. Cassava is the second most cultivated crop in the district.
The Member of Parliament had earlier indicated that the factory will add value to the abundant cassava resources in the district, adding that farmers in the area would be encouraged to cultivate more cassava to feed the factory.
BY Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org/austinofori.addo@gmail.com
