The Vice- President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, on Wednesday announced that compact field houses will be constructed in the southern horticultural belt, including one at Papase in the Awutu-Efutu-Senya district, to primarily benefit farmers engaged in pineapple production. He said this was essential because one of the main reasons for the poor quality and short shelf-life of the Ghanaian horticultural produce was the lack of an integrated cold chain. “From the time of harvesting through to the point of loading into a plane or ship, the produce is left to the vagaries of the weather. Without cooling facilities available, exporting by sea will impose considerable challenge and have adverse effects on the quality, market perception and prices of the industry in Europe”, he said. Alhaji Mahama, announced this when he launched the Millennium Challenge Account(MCA) Programme for the southern sector of the country, comprising the Central, Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta regions at the ‘Prudent Farms’ at Awutu-Bawjiase in the Central region. The Awutu-Efutu-Senya and Gomoa districts are the two districts benefiting from the programme in the region. He said the total horticultural exports from Ghana in 2003 reached 98,000 metric tones valued a little over 29 million dollars and that the bulk of the pineapple exports came from the Awutu district. With an estimated 450 small holder farmers engaged as pineapple out-growers, it is expected that 5,750 direct beneficiaries employment will be assured through increased margins on fresh fruits exported to Europe. “This is what we mean by job creation when government says that it will provide employment opportunities for the citizenry who are willing to work”, he stressed. He therefore, cautioned pineapple farmers against producing poor quality horticultural products, especially pineapples by inducing their maturity through the aid of chemicals before they are due, since it reduces their competitiveness and possible loss of market share. The Vice-President also mentioned inadequate rainfall, post-harvest losses and high transportation costs affecting agricultural commerce at sub-regional and regional levels as some of the basic constraints affecting agricultural productivity. He said to reduce these constraints, the programme will provide retention ponds and small dams where they are required, while post harvest infrastructure including cold storage and processing facilities and the rehabilitation of up to 950 kilometres of rural roads to reduce transportation costs and time to major domestic and international markets. He said for the Awutu-Efutu-Senya district, the upgrading of 14 kilometres of the national highway between the Kotoka International Airport and the port of Tema will be an added advantage, while 205 kilometres of feeder roads there will also be rehabilitated and upgraded. The Vice-President, also touched on measures to enhance farmers’ access to credit and said over 50 commercial and rural banks and financial NGOs will benefit from access to new funding and new banking capacity skills, and that it is hoped that eventually, this would constitute a permanent injection of new capital to improve seasonal and medium term credits to rural households and other enterprises engaged in commercial agricultural activities. “This will therefore eliminate ‘shylock’ money lenders and other unorthodox financial intermediaries who reap profits off the seat of our hardworking farmers and fishing folks”, he declared. Alhaji Mahama, however, pointed out that the implementation of the programme in the district “will suffer” if there is no cooperation between the chiefs and settler farmers with respect to practices pertaining to the land tenure system prevailing there. He therefore urged all government agencies, NGOs, chiefs and the local communities to embrace the programme in order to create jobs, wealth and reduce poverty. The Chairman of the Board of the Millennium Development Authority and the Minister of Public Sector Reform, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, reiterated the nation’s goal to become a middle income country with a per capita income of at least 1,000 dollars and observed that the problem had been how to source significant funds internally and externally in a timely manner to meet this goal. Source: GNA