1D1F: 4 Factories in North East create job avenues
The North East Region, one of the six newly created regions in the country, is set to witness massive industrial development soon, following the construction of some factories in the area.
Four factories, which are part of the government’s one-district, one-factory (1D1F) initiative, are at various stages of completion. They are the Walewale Watermelon Juice Factory, Tamanaa Rice Processing Factory, Gbimsi Shea Nut Processing Factory and a Waste Treatment Plant.
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When completed, the projects are expected to create jobs for the teeming youth and boost all sectors of the local economy of the new region.
The watermelon juice factory, which is the first of its kind, is situated in Walewale in the West Mamprusi Municipality and is a subsidiary of Champion Foods and Beverages Limited, a wholly-Ghanaian-owned beverage manufacturing, distribution and marketing company.
EXIM Bank
Funded with a GH¢36 million facility from the Ghana EXIM Bank, work on the facility began in March 2019 and is expected to be completed in March 2022 with about 90 per cent of the work already completed.
Already, equipment and machinery are on site, ready for installation. It is expected to produce about 10 metric tonnes of various juices and beverages per hour when operations commence.
The project will create direct employment for 300 people, while about 2,000 people, including farmers and aggregators who will engage in an out-grower scheme, will also benefit.
It will also curb the annual watermelon glut and improve the incomes of farmers, farmhands and drivers along the value chain.
Tamanaa Rice Company
The rice farming and processing company on the other hand, which is located at Nasia, near Walewale, currently mills about 290 metric tonnes of rice per day.
It engages over 4,000 rice farmers and aggregators in the West Mamprusi, East Mamprusi, Savelugu, Nanton and Mamprugu-Moagduri districts.
So far, some 148 workers have been employed. The company also generates a turnover of some $1.5 million annually, while it markets 60 per cent of its parboiled rice under the brand name: Nasia Star Rice.
Shea processing factory, waste treatment plant
Initiated by the wife of the Vice-President, Hajia Samira Bawumia, under her Samira Empowerment Foundation with support from the Ghana Exim Bank, the shea processing factory, constructed at Gbimsi near Walewale, is about 90 per cent completed.
During a recent visit, it was observed that all construction work on the facility was complete with some machines being installed. It is expected to create more jobs for the people, especially women who are the main value chain actors.
Constructed by Zoomlion Ghana Limited in partnership with the government, the Waste Treatment Plant is currently at foundation level and would help to transform tonnes of waste generated in the region into valuable produce such as organic fertiliser.
Boosting local economy
The North East Regional Minister, Mr Yidana Zakaria, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the benefits of the factories to the local economy were enormous in terms of job creation and improvement in the incomes of the people.
“As a new region these factories are going to be our major breakthrough because it will contribute a lot to create more jobs for the teeming youth and curb the growing phenomenon of rural urban migration,” he said.
He indicated that as a predominant farming area, access to ready market had been a major challenge to the people but with the completion of these facilities the farmers would now heave a sigh of relief because their produce would no longer experience glut.
Explaining the state of the facilities, Mr Zakaria said: “The watermelon factory is complete but they are only waiting for the fruits season so they can do some touches and test the machines, the rice factory is also currently in operation but with the shea it is left with some few works, while work has just begun on the waste treatment plant.”
Dream come true
He said the factories were a dream come true as the fear of post-harvest losses would be eliminated as soon as possible.
He, therefore, urged the people, particularly farmers to take advantage of the setting up of the factory to scale up the farming of watermelon with the required standards in order to boost their income levels.
Every season, farmers hope of cashing in on the bumper harvest of the crop is always dashed due to the lack of storage facilities and access to ready market.
Prices for the perishable fruit always go down at the peak of its harvest with a large size of the fruit which is sold at GH¢10 going for as low as GH¢2 at the farm gate. Even at that price, some of the farmers are unable to attract buyers, leaving the fruits to rot on the farms.
In June 2019, when the Daily Graphic toured the region, the situation was not different as large quantities of the fruits were rotting away due to the lack of storage facilities and access to a ready market.
Heaps of the watermelon meant to attract buyers along various roads, especially the Nalerigu/Bunkpurugu stretch, were getting rotten, while other farmers gave out the fruits to commuters for free.
With the establishment of the factory, farmers would soon heave a sigh of relief as their produce would no longer rot away.