Newmont Ahafo mine constructs food processing centre

Kenyasi No 1 (B/A), April 23, GNA - A $ 694,897.00 processing plant has been inaugurated at Kenyasi Number one in the Asutifi North District of Brong-Ahafo Region.

Eighty farmer based organisations comprising at least 1,000 farmers would benefit from the Asutifi Processing and Services Centre, jointly constructed by Ahafo Mine of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited and the German Development Cooperation.

It is hoped that the plant would help reduce post-harvest losses in pepper, ginger and other targeted crops earmarked for processing.

Mr Jeop Coenen, the General Manager of the Ahafo Mine, said the plant would help improve earnings of farmers by adding value to their produce.

He said the implementation of other interventions like the Agricultural Improvement and Land Access Programme (AILAP) and the Agribusiness Growth Initiative by the Ahafo Mine had helped to improve the food production situation in the area.

Mr Coenen said through AILAP, maize productivity had increased from a baseline of 1.74 metric tonnes per hectare in 2005 to 3.0 metric tonnes per hectare in 2014.

'As a company that is purposed to create value and improve lives through sustainable mining, NGGL is committed to such productive initiatives aimed at promoting and fostering viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound agricultural development programmes,' he said.

Dr Cyril Quist, the Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, lauded the interventions put in place by the Ahafo Mine to ensure food security in the area and commended other partners such as the GIZ and the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund for the roles they played.

He appealed to farmers in the area to take advantage of the facility and work hard to improve on production.

GNA