Youth urged to go into cocoa farming

A Member of the Council of State, Mr Abraham Kwaku Adusei, has encouraged the unemployed youth to go into cocoa farming, saying that “it is lucrative and rewarding.”

He said cocoa has been the mainstay of the economy and there is good reason for the young people to show interest in its production.

He said the youth should be motivated by the government’s interventions such as free distribution of early maturing and high-yielding cocoa seedlings, alongside other inputs, to venture into the crop’s cultivation.

Mr Adusei, who is also the President of the World Cocoa Farmers Organisation with its headquarters in Italy, was speaking at the first anniversary celebration of the Akuafo Anigye Young Cocoa Farmers Association held at New Edubiase in the Adansi South District.

The association draws its membership from young people engaged in cocoa growing across the Western and Ashanti Regions.

Mr Adusei said getting more of the energetic youth into farming would not only assure them of sustainable income and improved livelihood but help the nation to achieve food security.

He praised the association for the vital role it is playing to entice young people into agriculture.

Mr Evans Togbor, President of the Akuafo Anigye Young Cocoa Farmers Association said the body is at the forefront of the fight against child labour in cocoa growing areas and has also been spearheading the training of farmers in animal rearing to provide them with additional income sources.

He counselled farmers to adopt improved farming technologies and best agronomic practices for optimal crop yield and returns.

Source: GNA