PROJECT TO INCREASE MANGO PRODUCTION UNDERWAY (PAGE 19, JULY 6, 2010)

OVER 2,500 farmers in five regions are to cultivate about 6,000 acres of mangoes in commercial quantities for export.
The project, estimated at GH¢52 million, is being financed by the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF).
The beneficiary regions are Northern, Upper East, Upper West and parts of Brong Ahafo and Volta.
In all, 30 districts in the beneficiary regions are benefiting from the project.
It is envisaged that in the next five years, 20,000 acres of mango plantations would have been developed, with about 24,000 metric tonnes of mangoes produced for processing locally to yield GH¢8 million in revenue.
Inaugurating the project at Bole, one of the beneficiary districts, at the weekend, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, intimated that the support was part of the government’s strategy to improve on agricultural productivity to support industrial production in order to create wealth for the country and its citizens.
According to her, the government wanted to develop non-traditional export commodities as an alternative source of income and that the EDIF was introduced to effectively help finance the development of export commodities.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, said the EDIF intervention had created jobs for more than 200 exporters and 300 farmer groups in the non-traditional export sector.
“The mango programme in northern Ghana has a bright future because the climatic conditions here are similar to those in Burkina Faso and Mali, which are by far ahead in terms of production, processing and marketing on both the local and the export markets,” he noted.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Magbenba, said the project was a viable one that was worth undertaking and called on the beneficiary farmers to put in their best to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the sector.
A Spokesperson for the Kintampo Mango Farmers Association, Mr Kwasi Etu-Bonde, expressed gratitude to the government for the project and urged the management of the EDIF intervention to efficiently supply all farm inputs to yield the desired results.
He further suggested that the EDIF board should help provide the beneficiary farmers with inputs such as sheds, motorcycles and accommodation facilities for farm attendants, as well as storage facilities.
The Bole District Chief Executive, Alhaji Seidu Sampson, announced that the Kicheto Mango Farmers Association at Bole was expected to cultivate 200 acres of mangoes.
He further announced that the association had been provided with GH¢296,000 to cover the cost of mango seedlings, stamping, clearing, ploughing, harrowing and pegging of the land.