Seventy-nine farmers groups registered at Yendi

Seventy-nine farmers' groups from 44 communities in the Yendi Municipality have been inaugurated at Yendi in the Northern Region.

Fifteen of them were presented with Certificates.

They include Gub Kati-Mali of Dikpung, Suglo Konbo of Nalogu, Farmers Cooperatives Marketing Society of Tusani, Kpamanga of Zakoli, among others.

In an address read on his behalf, the Yendi Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Issah Zakaria, expressed gratitude to Taaganoba/Tibiganso Farmers Cooperative, Association of Churches Development Projects (ACDEP) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Development and Relief Agency (EPDRA) and all their partners for their bold initiatives towards the total empowerment of the hardworking farmers.

Mr. Zakaria said the significance of the establishment of the Farmers-Based Organization (FBOs) was to provide a platform to the peasant and voiceless farmers to air their grievances, share experiences and offer them the bargaining power in the marketing of their produce.

They also make it easier for them to access loans and support to use appropriate technology and practices to add value to their produce.

He noted: “One major problem facing the agricultural industry, which is the mainstay of the economy, is the continuous exploitation and exportation of their produce in their raw stage without adding value through appropriate technology of preservation, storage, manufacturing and marketing.”

According to the Municipal Chief Executive, interventions such as the importation of combine harvesters, tractors, the supply of subsidized fertilizers to farmers, the Youth in Agriculture Programme, Block Farming, the creation of the National Buffer Stocks and the revamping of many agro-industries like the Pwalugu Tomato Factory at Navrongo and the Ayensu Starch Factory were part of the NDC Government’s Better Ghana Agenda.

Mr. Zakaria reminded the people in the area that peace and security were very critical in the socio-economic development of every nation, particularly, in an election year.

Mr. Zakaria, therefore, called on the farmers and stakeholders to use their groups to advocate peace in Yendi, which would go a long way to complement the government’s efforts to ensure a lasting peace in Dagbon.

The Development Coordinator of EPDRA North, Mr. Jonas Gershon Dzodzodzi, stated that the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, with its partners from Germany, established the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Agricultural Station in Chereponi, Yendi and Saboba in the late 1970’s.

The aim was to provide agricultural extension services to the farmers in the Eastern Corridor of the Northern Region, to address the situation of low yields of crops and poor performance of their livestock which culminated in the persistent food and income insecurity in the area.

Mr. Jonas Dzodzodzi indicated that EPDRA stations also implemented a crop-livestock integration project under the CIDA-FARMER project with Ministry of Food and Agriculture between 2004 and 2005.

He said, EPDRA stations were currently implementing Agricultural and Marketing Project of ACDEP with funding from the Inter Church Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO) in the Netherlands and the European Union.

He said the stations now delivered services to more than 124 communities, 308 farmer groups and reached out to more than 5,820 farmers directly and over 18,400 indirect beneficiaries with more than 92 of the farmers groups registered with the Department of Cooperatives.

The executive Director ACDEP, Tamale, Mr. Malex Alebikiya, said since 2005, the total programme cost for training of more than 70,800 farmers in the three northern regions by the ICCO and European Union is about ¢6,000,000.

Mr. Alebikiya advised the farmers to intensify efforts by producing more food because the Savanna Farmers Marketing Company had a favourable and competitive market for their produce.

He said the time when there was no market for their produce was passed.

He expressed his appreciation to ICCO and EU for the support they provided to farmers in the three Northern Regions.**