Help Make Rural Industries Viable - Yankah

Asebu (Central Region), 29 Oct. Rural communities in which industries have been sited have been urged to give the necessary support to make such industries viable to enhance their socio-economic development. Mr Kojo Yankah, Central Regional Minister, made the call when he met the management of Fruits and Flavours Limited (formerly Emil Ghana Limited), a lime and citrus processing company, and executive members of the Lime Growers Association at Asebu in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese district yesterday. The meeting was to help the management and the association to resolve an impasse about the supply of lime, the main raw material of the industry. Some members of the association, apparently dissatisfied with the 2,000 cedis the company pays for a crate of lime, sometimes on credit, now sell their produce to middlemen. The minister described the industry as a ''legacy which has been bequeathed'' to the people of the area and which must not be allowed to go waste. He said there is the need for co-operation between the farmers and management to prevent the industry, which started operating under the new name in 1995, from collapsing. Mr Yankah, therefore, urged the parties to the dispute to convene another meeting as soon as possible to see how best they can resolve the issue. This is to ensure the regular supply of lime and to eliminate the middlemen who buy and sell to other industries. Mr A.K. Agboado, General Manager of the company, regretted that in spite of his firm's assistance to the association in terms of loans and supply of seedlings, the farmers failed to provide them with the required amount of lime and instead sold their produce to middlemen. As a result, the industry loses about 80 per cent of the lime it is supposed to get, thus rendering it incapable of meeting its annual production target of milling about 25,000 tonnes of lime. From the beginning of the year to date, the company has been able to mill only about 1,190 tonnes, he said. The general-secretary of the association, Mr Robert Annafo, said the company has not rpt not informed his executive that some of the members were dealing with middlemen. He, however, appealed to the management to take steps to buy the lime at reasonable prices and on time to ensure that some of the farmers do not become frustrated. Mr Yankah had earlier met members of the Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF) in the central region at Cape Coast, and urged them to expand their farms. He also urged them to give the necessary encouragement to the youth to take to farming to boost food production. He gave the assurance that the government will continue to give assistance to farmers.