MOFA to assist farmers to export produce

Gomoa Enyeme (C/R), May 5, GNA - Mrs Evelyn Opare, Gomoa District Director of Agriculture has appealed to

farmers to take advantage of the Export Marketing Quality Assurance Project (EMQAP) to boost their income. The project, an intervention of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) is to help farmers to adopt good

agricultural practices to enable them produce high quality products to meet export standard. The African Development Bank is the financier of the Project. Addressing a farmers' forum at Gomoa Enyeme, the District Director of Agriculture said government had realised that

for farmers to come out of poverty, they need to go beyond production for only the local market. Mrs Opare said the EMQAP is targeting the production of mango, papaya, cassava, garden eggs, chilli pepper and

pineapple (MD2) species for export. She said the District Agricultural Development Unit (DADU) of MOFA had accepted the challenge to build the capacity

of farmers on good agricultural practices from pre-production to post-production levels. She said DADU had formed 10 farmers groups comprising 30 farmers each to prepare them to meet the export

standard. The farmers are being trained in nursery management and general good agricultural practices. She said farmer groups which could not export their produce would be linked to exporters, provided their products

met the required standard. Ms Maureen Azu, EMQAP Desk Officer in Gomoa said the project is being implemented in the Volta, Greater Accra,

Eastern and Central regions. She said four demonstration centres had been established through out the country with one at Gomoa Okyereko to

train farmers.