Adentan Municipal Assembly promotes mushroom cultivation
The Adentan Municipal Assembly (AdMA), in collaboration with the Centre for Local Governance and Advocacy (CLGA) and the Local Government Network (LOGNet), has launched a project to promote the cultivation of mushrooms in the municipality.
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The three-year project, estimated to cost £660,000, is an initiative aimed at developing the economy locally and creating opportunities for employment for women, youth and people with disabilities (PWDs).
The project is expected to help improve the environment through sustainable practices along the production chain in the mushroom industry.
It is being funded by the European Union (EU), with counterpart funding from the AdMA, CLGA and the LOGNet.
About 5,500 jobs are expected to be generated out of the project while the income of mushroom farmers would hopefully increase from GH¢4000 to GH¢30,000 by December 2020.
Moreover, almost 100 per cent of the waste from the cultivation of the mushroom would be turned into manure.
A 13-member project committee was inaugurated at the launch.
Support for society
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Hajia Alima Mahama, said the project was an indication that the ‘one district one factory’ policy announced by government was achievable.
She said if communities could consider sectors of the economy for which they had comparative advantage, they could create jobs for the people in the community and contribute to the reduction in the rate of unemployment in the country.
“Let’s begin to explore a variety of initiatives and enter into partnerships with the assemblies and private institutions to change the lives of people in our communities,” she said.
Infrastructural development
She lauded the efforts of the AdMA and said such initiatives like the cultivation of mushrooms did not require much space and expressed the hope that other metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) would emulate the example.
She added that plans were advanced to expand and upgrade road infrastructure that connected farming communities to marketing centres.
“We shall also develop market support services for the production of selected food and commercial crops for export,” she stated.
Construction of laboratory
For her part, the Deputy Executive Director of CLGA, Ms Gladys N. Tetteh, said a spawn laboratory would be established for the production of quality spawns for the project. In addition, modern equipment such as autoclave, a mechanised bagging system and airflow laminar would be provided through a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
“The entire spawn laboratory will be gender friendly and disability compliant in conformity with national and international standard. It will mitigate any barriers against women, youth and people with disabilities,” she said.
She said farmers would be taken through the required capacities in emerging technologies, record keeping, post-harvest management and value addition.
In a bid to promote environmental sustainability, Mrs Tetteh said there would be agriculture extension and advisory services for mushroom farmers and consumers.
Decentralisation in Ghana
The Head of the Governance section of the EU to Ghana, Ms Maria Luisa Troncoso, said the idea to fund the project was part of the EU’s decentralisation process in Ghana directed at reducing poverty in the country.
She said it was the first time the EU was engaging in such funding initiative in Ghana.
She was hopeful that the project would be beneficial to all stakeholders involved and achieve the purpose for which it was set up.
