Over 1 million oil palm seedlings to be offered under alternative livelihood this year

The Minerals Commission’s Alternative Livelihood Project on Oil Palm for 2020 planting season, will distribute over 1,057,000 oil palm seedlings freely to farmers in mining districts in the Eastern region.

These seedlings are targeted at the youth to discourage them from engaging in illegal mining.

This was made known during an inspection by the Commission’s Board on a 100 acres Oil Palm seedlings nursery site at Akwatiakwa near Adawso in the Akwapim North District.

The CEO of Richie Plantations Ltd, in-charge of the nursery, Mr. Richard E. Quansah indicated that the distribution will begin in July 2020 and end September 2020.

Board Chairman of the Minerals Commission, S.K. Boafo in his address, urged the youth to stop the illegal mining practice (galamsey) and instead, register and adopt the project as a more lucrative and less hazardous means of livelihood.

Background

The Commission’s project intends to galvanize existing farmer groups in the targeted communities to establish coherent producer-shareholder commercial entity to produce oil palm.

This is expected to link successful rural export development with the prevailing farming systems to produce staple food crops as inter crops to generate short term revenue and ensure food security prior to maturity of the oil palm.

Further to this, the project will generate employment both direct and indirect by mobilizing illegal miners (galamseys) and sensitize them into adopting the alternative livelihood project as a more lucrative, less hazardous means of livelihood.

The Board Chairman was elated that, the free distribution of over 1 million seedlings will go a long way to serve the mass of interested farmers especially the young ones in these mining districts as part of efforts by the current Government to reduce illegal mining.