Asutifi processing plant inaugurated
The Asutifi Processing and Services Centre (APSC), established to add value to some farm produce in the Asutifi North and South districts in the Brong Ahafo Region, has been inaugurated.
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The project, a joint initiative of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbelt (GIZ), was constructed at a cost of $695,000.
Produce earmarked for processing at the centre at the initial stages are chilli pepper and ginger, while there are plans to include maize and soyabeans soon.
Benefits
The APSC will help reduce post-harvest losses in the target crops, which currently stand between 15 and 26 per cent in the two districts.
It will also improve the earnings of farmers through value addition to their produce.
The initiative forms part of the NGGL’s effort to support farmers’ productivity in the area.
More than 80 farmer-based organisations (FBO), comprising about 1,000 farmers, are to benefit from the project. Seventy per cent of the farmers are women and the youth.
The centre is expected to produce about 65 tonnes of chilli pepper and 80 tonnes of ginger annually. It is also expected to generate a turnover of GH¢500,000 per annum by the third year of its operations.
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Communities that will feed the centre in the Asutifi North and South districts are Kenyasi No 1, Kenyasi No 2, Ntotroso, Gyedu, Wamahinso, Hwidiem, Nkaseim and Nkrankrom.
Inauguration
Nana Ama Bonsu, a representative of the FBOs, expressed satisfaction and gratitude to the NGGL and GIZ for the initiative to better the lot of farmers in the area.
“Even though Newmont is using part of our land for mining, we have been trained to use modern methods of farming to improve our yield,” she said, adding that the establishment of the centre would ensure that their yields did not go waste.
In 2006, Newmont initiated several agricultural interventions to mitigate the impact of mining on agriculture in the area.
The Programme Manager of the GIZ, Mr John Kuti, expressed the hope that the market opportunities created for farmers through the project would dissuade the youth from illegal mining activities (galamsey) and turn their attention to agriculture.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Agriculture, Dr Cyril Quist, commended Newmont for its efforts to better the lot of farmers in the Ahafo area and called on the farmers to work hard to provide the centre with the necessary raw materials to enhance its operations.