Societal challenges take shine off Agotime Kente industry
The Agotime Traditional Area in the Volta Region is known invariably for the Kente industry and the rich Kente festival, which attracts people from far and near.
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The festival is one of Ghana’s most prestigious carnivals, which highlights the cultural and economic significance of the Kente.
It presents a platform to showcase the rich indigenous Kente designs, customary use of the fabric and portrays the history of the people, as well as serves as a great tourist attraction in the country.
This year’s celebration was rounded off with a durbar at Kpetoe on August 12, on the theme: “Repositioning the Kente Heritage for inclusive development”.
Calls
Apart from the usual exposition of Kente pieces and culture, there were calls to give greater recognition to the economic opportunities the festival offers on the contemporary Ghanaian and global markets.
For instance, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Agotime-Ziope, Emilia Emefa Adzimah cited the Kente hub in the area and said it would provide training, jobs and immense wealth to the youth if investors supported it vigorously.
However, she said chieftaincy disputes, substance abuse among the youth, rising cases of teenage pregnancy and HIV infections in the Agotime-Ziope District were seriously thwarting national development efforts in the area.
The school dropout rate is also cause for worry, she added.
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Ms Adzimah said this in an interview in the district capital, Kpetoe at the weekend on the development prospects of the Kente industry for which the area is known.
“Our efforts to reduce poverty and improve living conditions will be in vain if the rate at which our young girls are getting pregnant and dropping out of school is not curbed,” she warned.
She said it was disheartening to realise that girls, who were not capable of taking care of themselves, had rather taken over the responsibility of motherhood.
Substance abuse
The DCE said some youth in Agotime-Ziope abused marijuana and tramadol to get “high” and the phenomenon was cause for worry because their mental health and general well-being were at risk.
Closely associated with the issue of teenage pregnancy was the increase in the HIV/AIDS infection rate in the district, she said.
Ms Adzimah revealed that a total of 248 people, including 25 males and 203 females had tested positive for HIV in the district.
“This is alarming; hence, we need to change our behaviour towards sex to reduce HIV/AIDS infection in the district; we need behavioural change as many people have forgotten HIV/AIDS still exists,” she added.
Road rehabilitation
On a more positive note, the DCE said the recent rehabilitation of the 9.5-kilometre stretch from Beh to Agotime-Afegame had made movement easier by reducing travelling time.
“This is an investment that will yield substantial returns in terms of safety, economic development, environmental sustainability and overall quality to agriculture support,” Ms Adzimah added.
She said the assembly had also taken delivery of bags of fertiliser and maize seeds for distribution to farmers who were registered on the Ghana Agricultural Agribusiness Platform in the district.
While the prospects for the Kente industry at Agotime are bright, the people in the area are also faced with formidable constraints as mentioned by the DCE.
However, the hurdles are not insurmountable.