Coconut farmers appeal to government for support
The Coconut Farmers Association of Ghana (CoFAG) has called on the government and other relevant stakeholders for support to enable members to expand their farms.
That, according to the association, would make it possible for its members to employ more workers and generate funds for themselves and the country as a whole.
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The specific areas of support requested are funding, extension services and a vehicle to undertake the association’s activities.
These were contained in an address read by the National Vice-President of the association, Mr Bismark Gyeeku, at the Eastern Region
Delegates Conference of the CoFAG held in Koforidua, earlier this month.
The event, held on the theme: "Coconut Farming, Solution to Galamsey and Rural Poverty,” was attended by delegates from across the region.
It was held to deliberate on matters affecting coconut production with the view to finding solutions.
Challenges
Mr Gyeeku stated that although ranked 14th on the list of the world's top coconut producers in 2017, with 383,960 tonnes, the industry in Ghana was beset with a number of challenges.
Such challenges, he indicated, were funding for farmers, trained extension officers to guide farmers and the lack of a vehicle to undertake the association's activities.
He explained that most often extension officers who made coconut seedlings available to the association had little knowledge about coconut cultivation so the government should support the association to train its own extension officers to assist them.
Raw materials
He said apart from coconut providing food security and foreign exchange earnings, it also served as raw material for the pharmaceutical and beverage industry.
Mr Gyeeku also stated that inadequate planting materials such as seedlings and organic fertiliser were negatively affecting their, while galamsey operators were also destroying the land meant for coconut cultivation.
He, nonetheless, noted that the association on its own was reviving the coconut industry through institutional and organisational capacity strengthening, the establishment of a competitive market on the value chain and the creation of employment for the youth in both the rural and urban centres.
Income generation
The Eastern Regional Director of the Agriculture, Mr Henry Kobina Crentsil Jr, encouraged more women to also go into coconut cultivation, since it would help them get income to take good care of their families.
According to him, coconut cultivation was a good venture that the youth in the region must take advantage of in order to better their future.
The National Secretary of CoFAG, Mr Dei Divine, also called on the youth to show interest in coconut cultivation since that could help transform their lives and also give them sustainable income.
