Ejura (Ash), Aug 2, GNA - Madam Elizabeth Owusu, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ejura-Sekyedumase, on Monday announced that the assembly had disbursed 3.4 billion cedis as loans to 415 food crop farmers in the district. She said 1.2 billion cedis was disbursed as short-term loan to 337 farmers for food production and 2.2 billion cedis had been given to 78 farmers as loan to market their crops.

Madam Elizabeth who was speaking at the second ordinary meeting of the assembly at Ejura, said the assistance formed part of the Poverty Reduction programme to help people in the rural communities to improve upon their standard of living. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the International Fund for Agricultural Development are financing the scheme.

Madam Elizabeth said about 1,454 farmers had already constituted themselves into 220 groups to enable them to access the funds from the bank and that land had already been acquired for the project, which will take off, by October this year. Consequently, Madam Owusu said, the project was assisting communities in Drobon and Frante in the area to construct foodstuff storage facilities at the cost of 40 million. She said plans almost completed to implement a livestock development project in the district, to be financed by the African Development Bank. Madam Owusu said the assembly had requested the people to pay between 72,000 cedis and 150,000 cedis towards the National Health Insurance Scheme. She commended the health personnel for working hard to improve health delivery in the district despite the problems they encountered. Madam Owusu said in its bid to reverse the falling standard of education in the district, the assembly had abolished wholesale promotion and introduced common promotion examination for all basic schools in the district.