Farmers at Kakum assisted to protect farms against elephants

Brahabebome (C/R) 23 Sept, GNA- A 234,000 dollar- project, initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), last year, to protect farms in communities around the Kakum National Park from marauding elephants, has yielded positive results. For the first time in over 20 years, farmers at Aboabo camp, Nyamebekyere, Adubiase, Siriboekro, Brahabebome, Kasum and Alicekrom, have been able to harvest their food crops without any hindrance from the elephants.

The project, is being implemented in collaboration with Conservation International, a non-governmental organisation, the Ministry of Lands and Forestry and the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission. The Minister of Lands and Forestry, Prof. Dominic Fobih and Mr Anatolio Ndong Mba, Deputy Regional FAO Representative for Africa, on Wednesday visited some of the beneficiary communities at Brahabebome and Kasum, to assess the progress of the project.

Mr Mba, asked the farmers to ensure the sustainability of the project to help extend the facility to other communities. Prof. Fobih commended the farmers for making the project a success and expressed the hope that they would share the knowledge they have gained with their colleagues.

Okyeame Ampadu-Agyei, the Country Director of Conservation International-Ghana, said plans were advanced to expand the project. Mr Kwaku Enoo, a farmer, said the project had enhanced the standard of living of the beneficiaries while those that abandoned their farms have returned.

Scouts formed in the various communities to monitor the project, were presented with Wellington boots, cutlasses, torchlights and other working g