MASLOC assists Ayensu Starch Factory
Cassava farmers numbering about 350, who feed the Ayensu Starch Factory at Awutu Bawjiase, have received financial support totalling GH¢161,160 from the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to help them expand their production.
Advertisement
The facility has flexible re-payment schedule.
The farmers, who operate under the block farming concept, belong to the Ayensu Cassava Farmers Association. The farmers have currently put about 650 acres of land under cultivation.
At a brief ceremony at Awutu Bawjiase in the Awutu Senya West District, at which the money was presented to the farmers, the Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC, Mrs Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, said the centre took great interest in the work of the farmers because of the important role they played in getting the operations of the starch factory going.
The Ayensu Starch Factory was inaugurated in February 2004 and was part of the government's Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on cassava.
The project has the objective of creating a market for cassava growers, processing cassava into starch and allied products and to create job avenues for the youth.
In 2006, the factory stopped operations due to technical difficulties and the inability of peasant farmers engaged by the company to supply sufficient cassava for effective production. The starch factory resumed operations in 2010.
The factory currently requires about 400 metric tonnes of cassava a day to meet production demands. It is now able to secure only 150 to 200 metric tonnes.
Other Trending Stories
Because of the inability of the local farmers to meet the requirements, the company has to travel to Atebubu and Busunya in the Brong Ahafo Region and Nkwanta North in the Volta Region for cassava to feed the plant.
Mrs Attionu said MASLOC would continue to support farmers in the country financially in order to meet the challenges of their work.
She disclosed that MASLOC was also taking steps to acquire tricycles for the cassava farmers to facilitate evacuation of their produce from the farms to a common conveying point from where the company could cart the produce to the factory.
Co-ordinator
The Co-ordinator of the Ayensu Starch Company, Mr James Bittir, described the loan as a timely intervention because it would go a long way to encourage the farmers to work hard to meet optimal demand for raw materials for the factory.
He said the plant, which had become old, needed some of its parts replaced. He, therefore, appealed to the government to come to the aid of the factory.
The District Chief Executive of the Awutu-Senya District, Mr Sampson Abbey Armah, appealed to MASLOC to extend similar support to out-grower farmers of the association.
He urged the farmers to endeavour to repay the loan within the scheduled period.