Rite FM has held its maiden edition of the One District, One RAF event. The first ever Rite FM organized district ‘Rite Agri-forum’ project came off in Somanya in the Yilo Krobo municipality of the Eastern region.
The forum which was held on Friday at the conference hall of the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly was aimed at creating a conducive platform for providing the grounds for relevant inputs for the development of agriculture in the municipality.
The event which drew tens of participants from across the agriculture value chain in Yilo Krobo saw impressive presentations in the areas of records keeping, district agric policies and flash talks on agric mechanization.
Municipal Chief Executive for Yilo Krobo, Mr. Ebenezer Tetteh Kupualor in his speech identified the lack of ready markets as a key need for farmers and noted that the assembly was prioritizing its implementation in the assembly’s annual budget.
The MCE who also underscored the significance of feeder roads in various communities in the municipality said the construction of such roads were underway, stressing that adequate provisions had been made for their expansion in the assembly’s annual budget.
On his part, Director for Agric at Yilo Krobo, Mr. Daniel Oduro expressed concern over the regular outbreak of bush fires and cautioned farmers on the need for safe farm practices to curtail the spread of bush fires.
He blamed the constant outbreak of bushfires suffered by farmers on bad farming practices undertaken by some farmers and stressed on the need for proper measures to curb such outbreaks.
Mr. Oduro who observed the importance of the planting for food and jobs policy said the DOA had plans of increasing the number of beneficiaries of the program in the municipality.
According to Mr. Oduro, the ‘Planting for food and Investment’ being implemented by the Yilo Krobo municipal assembly will allow vegetable farmers increase their exportation and to ensure that vegetables are being grown with the appropriate fertilizers as well as moves for the establishment of mango and cassava processing factories in the municipality.
The forum also provided a common platform for discussions on the training on Farm records keeping.
Speaking on the need for farmers to keep records of their farming activities, Mr. Edmund Soh who is Supervisor – Cotton Weblink and Farm Management Systems Limited (FMSL) underscored the need for farmers to adopt record keeping.
The practice, he stressed was an important step towards improving on farmers’ farming practices, arguing that obsolete farming methods are now a thing of the past.
Mr. Soh added that farming was now a business and not the ‘ordinary activity’ it was known for in the past.
In all, a number of stakeholders from the sector including leaders of Farmer-Based Organizations, (FBOs), business-minded farmers and various stakeholders partook in the one day event.
The one district, one RAF program is an offshoot of the Rite FM Agric Forum which targets farmers from six surrounding districts including Yilo Krobo, Shai Osudoku, Manya Krobo, Upper Manya, Asuogyaman and Akuapim North.
Source: ritefmonline.org
