Government to make Mankessim the vegetable hub in Ghana - President Mahama

Government would support vegetable farmers in Mankessim in the Central Region to become the hub of improved and quality vegetables for both domestic and external consumption, President John Dramani Mahama has announced.

He said: “All the vegetables that we find in most of the supermarkets are either imported from Europe or South Africa, while we have the capacity to produce for both internal and external consumption.”

President Mahama announced this when he joined the chiefs and people of Mankessim to celebrate their annual Borbor Mfantse Akwanbo festival, which gives the opportunity to socialize and appraise their performance in the past year.

President Mahama said, much as there was the need to develop oil and gas and other economic ventures, there was also the need to develop the agricultural sector as most of those in other sectors were dependent on quality food for good health and survival.

He promised to liaise with the Agricultural Development Bank to reclaim some of the land banks that were acquired some years back to embark on a massive commercial vegetable production in the area.

The President expressed dissatisfaction that vegetables such as carrots and cabbage were still imported from South Africa when the country had the opportunity to produce them in large quantities, given the necessary push.

President Mahama promised that government would also help to find available markets for their products and encouraged them to take advantage of the youth in agriculture programme to better their lots.

Addressing a similar festival in Ekumfi Ekrawfo, also in the central Region, President Mahama said government had voted 33 Million Euros for the Ekumfi water project and gave them the assurance that more development projects would be extended to the area.

He commended the Ahmadiya Muslim Mission for the numerous development projects in the area and pledged government’s support to create a congenial environment for their effective operations in the region.

Nana Ama Amissah III, Omanhenmaa of Mankessim, in a speech read on her behalf, appealed to government to expedite action on the construction of the irrigation project to enable them to undertake agricultural programmes.

She announced that they would soon launch the Mankessim Educational and Development fund to help them to execute all the necessary development projects and complement the activities of government.