The Ajumako Enyan Essiam District Assembly has presented over 500,000 cocoa seedling to over 40 communities as part of efforts to boost the agriculture base of the people in that area.
The distribution of the cocoa seedlings is in line with the Planting for Export and Rural Development programme under the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative.
Beneficiary communities include Solomon, Ayinnasu, Boso, Konyarko, Essaman, Abeadzi, Bisease among other areas.
Speaking to Citi News, District Chief Executive for Ajumako Enyan Essiam District, Ransford Kwesi Nyarko explained that cocoa farmers initially had difficulties in acquiring cocoa seedling for planting but with the occasional distribution of seedlings for farmers, it will help reduce the burden.
“Looking at the demand and supply, we decided that we will go into the nursery of cocoa and supply to farmers,” the District Chief Executive said.
“Our District once used to be a cocoa district but the 1983 bush fires burnt a lot of cocoa farms in the district and so we lost that status and we were added to the Asikuma cocoa district. But since I assumed office I have been working with the top members of cocoa board to restore that status,” the DCE said.
According to Ransford Kwaku Nyarko, the demand for cocoa seedlings pushed them to create a nursery to supply cocoa farmers with the seedlings.
“We have raised about nine nurseries, three were raised by the assembly, and these three raised in excess of over a hundred thousand seedlings. And we have other community-led nurseries that raised over fifty thousand and some others also raised twenty thousand so all together we have about some five hundred thousand cocoa seedlings” the DCE said.
“As soon as the rains start we will give them their seedlings to start planting and we will ensure that they dig the right hole to make sure that the seeds grow well,” Reverend Ransford Kwaku Nyarko said.
District Director of Agriculture at Ajumako Enyan Essiam Paul Yaw Gokah was optimistic the initiative would be sustained adding that his outfit would embark on an educational campaign to sensitize cocoa farmers on how to plant the crop.
“My department will visit the various cocoa farmers in the communities to make sure they using the right process to plant the crop,” Paul Yaw Gokah said.
“In Agric, we have something we call farm visit where Agric officers visit farmers to educate them on the way to go and that is exactly what we are going to do,” the district director of Agriculture said.
Some beneficiary cocoa farmers expressed delight with the initiative by the assembly adding that the initiative will help the district regain its status as the once vibrant cocoa hub.
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