Cashew sector to bring in $ 2.5 billion to Ghana – Deputy Minister

Yeji (B / R), July 20, GNA – The cashew nut
the industry is expected to raise US $ 2.5 billion in the country over the next five years.
Augustine Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister of Local Government and
Rural development, said.

He said the government has dedicated GHȼ
EUR 1 billion for the establishment of the Tree Crop Development Authority which
regulate the cashew industry and reorganize this sector to contribute
gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.

Mr Ntim, Head of Rural Development
Economic Development and Agriculture, headed the metropolitan, municipal and
District Assemblies (MMDA) to raise 100,000 targeted cashew plants
within the framework of the Plantation for Export and Rural Development (PERD) program in order to
target.

Cashew plants would be provided at
farmers enrolled in the PERD program free for planting.

He said that the PERD has come to stay and that
the government plans to hire jobless youth to plant the cashew nut
seedlings for farmers.

Interact with department heads
(HOD) and staff of the Pru East District Assembly in Yeji in Bono East
The deputy minister said the successful implementation of the planting program
for Food and Jobs (PfFJs) and the programs of the PERD depended mainly on the MMDAs.

He stated that the PERD, PfFJ and others
The intervention programs put in place by the government all focused on employment.
creation and reduction of poverty, and ordered the bademblies to step up
educational campaigns for more farmers and Ghanaians in general to register and
advantage.

Mr. Ntim said documentation and reliable data
collection are essential as they were a key index in measuring the impact and
success of PfFJ programs and called on the bademblies to wake up for
improve data collection.

He called for effective collaboration
between ministries and agencies within the MMDAs for the implementation of the
PfFJs and PERD to enable the government to achieve the desired results.

Mr. Ntim stated that the PfFJ and the PERD had a huge
potential for creating jobs and reducing rural poverty in order to stimulate
socio-economic growth and development and advised Ghanaians to embrace and
support these programs.

He said the government is ready to provide
agricultural inputs and equipment to expand programs; and the
As a result, MMDAs have had to register more farmers and make programs
attractive for unemployed youth to join.

Mr. Joshua Kwaku Abonkrah, the East Pru
District Chief, said that access to agricultural land is very difficult in the
area due to conflict of chiefdoms and land disputes, which hampers
implementation of PERD and PfFJ in the district.

He said that many farmers in the region have registered
under the PERD and eager to go into the commercial cashew nut plantation but
access to farmland is a major challenge.

Mr. Abonkrah advised traditional authorities
bury their differences and release land to allow interested farmers to
participate in programs.

GNA