Shama rice growers want farmlands back

Members of  Ohiamadwen Rice Growers Association (RIGA) in the Shama District of the Western Region have appealed to the government to give back their farmlands to enable them work and make ends meet.

The 75 hectares of farmlands acquired by government in 2009 for the Inland Valley Rice Development Project (IVRDP) has not taken off, thus rendering most of the affected farmers jobless.

Ms. Efua Ewur, focal person for the RIGA, said the farmers who gave up their lands for the project are now going through hard times and are faced with poverty since they had no livelihood to depend on.

She said the government’s inability to start the IVRDP project had indeed brought hardships to families in the area.

Ms. Ewur therefore appealed to the government, to as a matter of urgency, restore to the farmers their land to bring hope and economic growth and development to the Ohiamadwen area.

Source: GNA