Government urged to implement reports on Sheanuts

Wa, Feb. 13, GNA - Mr Abdul-Mumuni Insah, a Retired Educationist and a renowned Sheanut farmer, has urged the Government to implement all research findings on Sheanut, which had been gathering dust on the shelves of the research scientists and policy makers over the years. He said the research findings on the reduction of the gestation period for the crop that was developed some time ago at the Sheanut Research Station at Bole in the Northern Region could turn the cultivation of the crop into a serious business. Mr Insah, one time Upper West Regional Chief Farmer and a member of the Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers' Association gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Wa on Friday. He said Sheanut producers were not getting the right attention from policy makers because of the wild nature of the crop. He appealed to the government to speed up the fulfillment of its promise to set up an Authority for the development and regulation of the Sheanut industry to facilitate the growth of the Industry. The former Chief Farmer mentioned the activities of private buying companies as serious challenges to the growth of the industry as they were making it impossible for the producers to reap the benefits of their toil.

"They have created 'a free for all' situation in the Industry as they move their trucks into the villages and buy at any price and return to their destinations without paying anything to the Association or the Municipal and District Assemblies". Mr Insah said the regulation of the industry would encourage producers to see Sheanut as an important cash crop and embrace any new technologies that would be made available to them to facilitate production.

He noted that the crop was in high demand overseas because of its multiple uses and its development should therefore be propelled to enable it become a pivot in addressing poverty in the northern parts of the country. 13 Feb. 09