The Armed Forces agro-forest project, which took off on Tuesday at Mitchel Camp, is a dream come true for the Minister of Defence, Dr. Addo-Kufuor. The idea dawned on him during his recent visit to Lebanon where he was surprised to see that even under harsh weather conditions the people there have been able to turn a bad situation around.
In the course of the visit he noticed vegetable farms around the military camps. He therefore went into a discussion with the Commanding Officer with a view to having Ghanaian troops attached to the farms to acquire the technology.
The Lebanese farms use drip irrigation method, which allows for small quantities of water large farms.
The defence minister also resolved that Ghanaian soldiers apart from the gains they make in the areas of peace-keeping should also learn effective technology from the Lebanese so that when they return home they can apply it in arid and other parts of the country.
Dr. Addo-Kufuor discussed the issue with the Lebanese Defence Minister and appealed to the Lebanese government and the Lebanese community in Ghana for assistance in that direction. He went another step to seek the support of Mr. Ben Kufuor, Managing Director of Ghana Primewood Company, a leading agro-forestry entrepreneur who donated C200, 000,000 and resource persons towards the Armed Forces agro-forestry project at Michel Camp.
This it is intended would serve as a model agro-forestry project using modern technology, and which will eventually demonstrate to the people of Ghana that the Accra plains could be, developed into the food basket of the country.
