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The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, John Dumelo, has inaugurated a Cattle Ranch Task Force to regulate the movement of nomadic herdsmen and their animals in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District in the Eastern Region.
The task force is also to help prevent the destruction of crop farms and ensure that both herdsmen and crop farmers co-exist peacefully in the district.
The inauguration of the task force, which took place at Amankwakrom at the weekend, coincided with the marking of the third edition of the annual Inter-professional Collaboration for Community Development (ICCD) for the area.
The two-day event brought together influencer voices, as well as other relevant stakeholders from the health, education and agricultural sectors to brainstorm on the socio-economic potential of the district and chart a path towards a self-reliance future.
The Deputy Food and Agriculture Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawase West Wuogon, highlighted the economic potential of the area and asked members of the task force to ensure that the destruction of crop farms by cattle and mistrust between the herdsmen and the farmers would be a thing of the past.
Mr Dumelo advised members of the task force to also ensure they operated within the confines of the law.
He gave an assurance that food processing centres would be set up in the area to process some of the produce to enable them to generate more income for their livelihoods.
That, Mr Dumelo explained, would also help reduce post-harvest losses, which was one of the main challenges facing crop farmers in the area.
He also used the occasion to appeal to the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the area to ensure that the assembly would institute bye-laws to enforce, regulate and control the movement of cattle unnecessarily to prevent the destruction of the farms by the cattle.
Mr Dumelo also threw light on the government’s assistance to farmers under the Feed Ghana Programme (FGP) and urged the farmers in the area to form cooperatives to enable them to benefit from the programme.
He said the FGP was designed to directly support organised groups of farmers to access farmer service centres (FSCs), banking and financial services, credit and investment, input subsidies, market linkage and price negotiation, among others.
For his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Wolarse Kpeli, commended the leadership of the foundation for driving a self-led development in the area because when harnessed agriculture would enhance incomes.
He, therefore, advised the people to throw their full support behind the task force to ensure its success.
The Chief of Amankwakrom, Nana Otukwa Mpareko VI, who is also the Founder of the Kwahu Asabi Royal Foundation, encouraged collaboration through community-led initiatives that would align with national development goals.
He called on well-to-do Ghanaians, individuals, non-governmental organisations, and philanthropists who had the area at heart, to support the initiative to help bring more development to the area.
