Bonsueku (C/R), Dec. 2, GNA - Three hundred youths in the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District of the Central Region, have registered as at the end of November this year, for the agriculture business module, under the "Youth Employment Programme".

Mr Solomon Quarshie Abbam-Quaye, District Chief Executive, who announced this, said his administration hoped to attract more unemployed youths in the District into the agricultural sector under the programme when it takes off early next year.

Mr Abbam-Quaye was addressing a cross section of people including, farmers, fishermen, agro-products processors, fish processors, chiefs, traders and workers at the 22nd annual Farmers Day celebration at Bonsueku, near Senya-Beraku, on Friday.

The first Friday in December every year, has been set aside for the celebration of the National Farmers Day since it was introduced by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government to honour hardworking farmers in the country some 22 years ago.

Mr Abbam-Quaye said the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Assembly was getting on well with the Youth Employment Programme, because it was approaching the programme from a non-partisan point of view. He, however, admitted that unlike other modules which deal with white-collar jobs, the agriculture module had not attracted the expected number of unemployed youth in the District since the registration exercise started.

Mr Abbam-Quaye, himself a part-time yam producer, reiterated the immense benefits in agricultural ventures and advised all physically-fit jobless youth to embrace it.

He said people who have been registered under the agriculture module of the programme will be given all the necessary inputs and funds for land preparation and farm maintenance to start dry season vegetable and yam cultivation.

Beneficiary young farmers will also receive a quantum of money as three months allowance each, to encourage them to pursue their farming businesses, adding that all these things are geared towards the attainment of the objective of the scheme.

The DCE advised people in the area who have not registered with the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme to do so immediately because it would help save them some funds for the expansion of their agricultural and other businesses.

He also stressed the need for all sexually active people in the area to exercise extra caution in their sexual behaviours and attitudes to protect them against the deadly disease HIV/AIDS. Speaking at the function, Mr Samuel Kofi Owusu-Agyei, MP for Effutu and a Deputy Minister of Health responsible for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), advised fishermen in the District against over reliance on the sea for their livelihood.

He said since food, fruits and vegetable farming thrived in the area, fishermen in Senya-Beraku and the Effutu Traditional areas must learn to diversify their activities to save them from abject poverty. Such a move, Mr Owusu-Agyei noted, would assist them to cater for the educational and other needs of their families.

He was appreciative for the excellent output chalked by farmers in the District during the year under review, through the hard work of agricultural extension officers in the area and appealed to both the extension workers and the farmers to sustain their collaborative efforts for much greater results in the coming years.

Mr Gershon Wodzrah, Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), attributed the successes recorded by his outfit in the District this year to the favourable rainfall pattern recorded during the main crop season. Mr Wodzrah said even though the rainfall situation for the mid-season had not been as good as expected, that would not affect general food situation in the District in the ensuing year. He gave the assurance that extension personnel in the area would continue to offer their best to promote agricultural activities in the District.

Out of the 21 selected farmers who received awards at the ceremony, Opanyin Kofi Abbey, a 50 year-old farmer in the Awutu Traditional Area was adjudged the Best Farmer for the district. He received a number of items including, one Knapsack Sprayer, a full piece of wax print, two cutlasses, a pair of Wellington boots and a certificate as his prize.

The district was also represented at the Regional and the National awards winners ceremonies held in Cape Coast in the Central Region and Nkwawie in the Ashanti Region, respectively, by two outstanding farmers who performed creditably during the year. Their names were, however, not disclosed. 2 Dec. 06