Ga West Assembly to venture into vegetable farming  

Mr Clement Nii Lamptey Wilkinson, the Ga West Municipal Chief Executive, has said arrangements are underway for the Assembly to acquire lands at Kwadjo Ashong and Okyerekomfo for vegetable farming.

He said this effort is to augment the “One District One Factory” policy, help create more jobs for the youth and help curb the ‘land guards’ concerns in the municipality.

Mr Wilkinson said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the completion of a four-month training programme for 20 youth in the area.

They were trained in waste separation, compost production and other entrepreneurial skills at the Municipal Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) at Pokuase, near Amasaman.

Mr Patrick Annan, the Municipal Director of MoFA, said the training forms part of a Dutch funded Utilization of Organic Waste for Improved Agriculture productivity (UOWIAP) project.

He said the goal of the project is to enhance food security and livelihoods of the peri-urban poor through sustainable waste management practices and improved agricultural productivity.

Mr Annan said the project would promote the collection of organic waste from markets, provide skills in compost production and other entrepreneurial endeavours. 

Dr Dzidzo Yirenya-Tawiah an official of the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana and the Co-ordinator of the Project, said the nation would derive benefits from the waste generated in the country if citizens make waste segregation an important part of their daily routine.

He said there is the need for the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and other institutions to integrate waste separation activities into their policies.

Professor Chris Gordon of the University of Ghana, who chaired the ceremony, said the peri-urban areas of the city of Accra could use organic waste to produce vegetables in abundance and appealed to the participants to put what they have learnt into practice.

Source: GNA