The Chairman of Cotton Farmers Association in the Sissala area has blamed poor pricing, inability to reach target group, inadequate subsidy on inputs and high numbers of field officers that outweighs farming group as reasons for the collapse in the cotton sector.
Banyina Kasim Sulemana on Tumu-based Radford FM indicated that farmers in the Sissala area constitute the majority in the number who produce cotton in the whole of the Northern part of Ghana , but is worried about the fact it is not considered for engagement as stakeholders.
“When the private sector took over in some few years ago the sector began to decline as farmers were not fully engaged in consultations resulting in many problems “. Mr Kassim also lauded government’s initiative to reduce inputs cost on fertilizer and asked for involvement of farmers in its drive to revamp the cotton sector.
Last month the Minister of President’s Special Development Initiatives Mavis Hawa Koomson expressed shock at the abandoned state of the Tumu Cotton Ginnery in the Upper West Region.
The facility has not been in use for several years because there are no raw materials for it to process because farmers from the area see cotton farming as non lucrative and have veered into the cultivation of food crops.
Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson who led a team of government officials to visit the facility, said she had been saddened by the fact that the previous government failed to take steps in revamping the ginnery that is critical to cotton production in the country.
“What we saw here is beyond our imagination as we taught the problem was with the machines but that is not the issue”, she observed.
The minister promised that the Tumu cotton ginnery would be operationalized to revive cotton production to feed the industry soon after the law to rename and restructure the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) is done.
She indicated that the land is available and farmers are ready to work and indicating her ministry’s readiness to bring together private sector operators and other stakeholders to identify the problems and resolve them.
“We are not happy, the team is not happy for what we have seen here……. We cry that there is poverty in the Northern region and if we always cry that we are poor and we have this property lying down here and doing nothing, how do we bridge the gap” she questioned.
Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson said she understands the cotton ginnery can employ 1000 or more people with the exception of farmers and expressed hope that the cotton ginnery if revamped has the capacity of employing over 5,000 persons.
She therefore further assured of the ministry’s commitment to work with the ministry for Trade and industry to make sure the cotton ginnery sees the light of day.
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