Some large-scale avocado farmers in the Eastern Region are calling on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the government to release degraded mining lands in the region for the cultivation of food and cash crops.
Several acres of degraded lands, that have not yet been reclaimed, continue to pose a threat to school children and adults in mining communities in the region.
According to the farmers, they have what it takes to reclaim the lands, restore the rainforest and undertake agroforestry initiatives to ensure food security in the country.
The Board Chairman of Akuapem Gold Agro-processing Company Limited, the largest avocado cultivation company in the country, Albert Wilson, who spoke to Citi News after visiting some farms of the company in the region, said the company is bent on maximizing production to help the government ensure food security.
“We are worried about how these degraded mining lands have been abandoned in communities; they pose a high risk to members including students around, but I think that it should be given to us because we have what it takes to reclaim those degraded lands, and we think that when given to us, it will speed up our developmental agenda because there will be no tenure farmers there to put blocks in our way. So whiles we are doing that, then we take our time to get over the hitches here”.
1D1F: Ghana to start avocado oil processing and export
Ghana will soon begin the production and mass export of avocado oil and drinks in the coming months, according to the management of Akuapem Gold Agro-processing Company Limited, a private entity under the government’s one district one factory initiative.
The company, through the implementation of simple soil maintenance technology with the best agronomy practices, has been able to record some yields in fruits in less than two years instead of the usual three to five years it usually takes for the Hass variety avocado to mature.
The company, which is cultivating avocado on a 25,000-acre land, has procured all machinery and equipment needed for the production of the avocado oil and fruits awaiting full harvesting to start processing.