World Bank supports youth in vegetable production

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa, Gabriel Kwodwo Essilfie, has revealed that the World Bank has allotted funds to support the youth in vegetable production.

He said the programme, christened the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme (WAAPP), is being implemented through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).

He said beneficiaries would be provided with set up kits amounting to GHc 38,000, but would be required to procure high yielding seedlings and fertilizers themselves.

Mr. Essilfie, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shama, told the media at Inchaban in the Shama District, that Dizengoff, an agribusiness firm, introduced the technology known as vegetable farming.

He said beneficiaries would be trained in drip irrigation, soil treatment and how to manage the farm, saying the vegetable farm concept had been embraced in other West African countries.

Mr. Kojo Donkoh, an agronomist with Dizengoff, said 160 of such start-up kits had been established in the country and 100 more would be added soon.