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Farmers in the Sekyere East District have appealed to the government to rehabilitate the road networks in the communities to make it easy for them to transport their produce to the marketing centres.
They also want the government to support them with credit facilities to purchase tricycles and mini-trucks to cart their produce from the farm gate to help reduce post-harvest loses.
Nana Clement Duku, Chairman of the Asante Effiduase Kroye Farmers’ Cooperative Union, who made the appeal, said it was time practical measures were put in place to make farming profitable and attractive to the youth.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency during a visit to his 12-acre cocoa farm at Effiduase, Nana Duku said transporting produce from the farm gate to the marketing centres was a major challenge to farmers in the area and the bad nature of the roads forced some of them to pay high transportation cost which affected their incomes.
Middle men also take advantage of the situation to buy the produce from the farm gates at ridiculously low prices making the farmer unable to benefit from his sweat.
Nana Duku said the way forward was for the government and the district assembly to support farmers by reshaping the road networks in farming communities to make them motorable for to bring their produce marketing centres.
Government could also support them with soft loans to buy tricycles and small trucks to cart their produce to the centres.
Nana Duku pointed out that developing and implementing practical measures to make farming attractive was not only the surest way to create employment, but also helped to improve incomes of farmers and reduced poverty in rural communities.
