The Volta Development Forum (VDF), an apolitical organisation of people of Ewe descent, plans to establish farms in all districts in the Volta Region as part of its agro-development agenda.

The initiative intends to cultivate 100-acre farms in each District and Municipality for local processing and export.

Mr Daniel Dzegede, Executive Director of the VDF, said agro- industrialisation was among the VDF key initiatives, adding that the attention would be on the cultivation of rice and cassava.

He said irrigation would also be highly considered for year-round cultivation.

Mr Dzegede said the processing of the food crops would be explored to help meet food and nutrition needs.

He said some individuals and entities, including expatriates, had expressed interest in adding value to the products.

The Forum, he said, had attracted an investor, who is ready to inject more than one million dollars into the agro-industry and to also train hundreds of out-growers in the Region.

Mr Dzegede said agro investment in the Region was set for a boost, adding, however, that concerns over access to the land remained a major impediment to the pursuance of the enterprise.

He, therefore, appealed to chiefs and other local authorities to relax their grip on land resources for the benefit of all.

The Director also noted that the Forum, as part of its development strategies, would encourage investors to establish agro-processing facilities in the Region to serve the West African Sub-Region and beyond.

Mr Dzegede said the VDF was targeting one billion dollars to help speed up the development of the Region.

He said the VDF was engaging communities in the diaspora to "sensitize them on the mission and to get them to buy into it."

"The forum already is attracting people who see it as an opportunity to contribute their quota," he said, adding that the Forum had chosen a bottom-up approach to development, and must, therefore, be supported by all.

"We must all work together to develop this Region. The current generation must sacrifice for the others. America is what it is because their forbearers paid the price," the Director said.

The VDF, formed in September 2020, has 18 working committees covering all sectors of the economy. The committees are being headed by experienced individuals, all indigenes of the Region.