Kwaebibirem Rural Bank provides tricycles for farmers
Palm fruit farmers, especially the women, in the Kwaebibirem District in the Eastern Region, are going to receive tricycles to aid them to transport their produce to the market centres.
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The support from the Kwaebibirem Rural Bank Limited will enable the farmers to easily convey their produce from the farm gate to the market, instead of the traditional way of carrying the palm fruits in head loads.
Launching the support at Asuom, a member of the board of directors of the bank, Mr W. Appiah-Kubi, said following the bank’s concern over the drudgery the farmers went through, it decided to go to their aid with the provision of the tricycles, whose prices are payable in 18 or 24 monthly instalments.
He said he was not happy that post-harvest losses suffered by the farmers were very high and expressed the hope that the tricycles would help in reducing the losses.
He asked farmers to endeavour to repay the cost of the tricycles within the stipulated period to enable others to also benefit from the support.
"Our women farmers have suffered for too long, hence we are coming in to alleviate their hardships and we believe that this will go a long way to improve upon their living conditions," he added.
Motorbikes
Mr Appiah-Kubi said the bank was also helping salaried workers to own motorbikes to ease the transportation difficulty in the Asuom catchment area.
He expressed optimism that productivity in government departments in the area, particularly in schools, would go up, since most teachers commuted between Kade and Asuom.
He impressed on the people in the area to buy shares in the bank to increase its capital base.
He explained that the bank needed to meet the Bank of Ghana's requirement of GH¢1,000,000 capital base by next year in order not to face sanctions.
Mr Appiah-Kubi said the bank would continue to offer products that would make life comfortable for people in its catchment area.
Relief
A beneficiary of the motorbike project, Mr Ransford Darkwah, who spoke on behalf of others, commended the bank for the programme and said the support was a welcome relief to the beneficiaries.
He urged all beneficiaries to work hard to pay for the tricycles and the motorbikes.