Lack of farm inputs, credit facilities hampers food production

November 13, 2009
Tumu, Nov. 13, GNA - Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton VI, Paramount Chief of the Tumu Traditional Area, has said lack of farm inputs and access to credit facilities was hampering food production in the Sissala East District.

He said with the availability of farm inputs and credit facilities, farmers in the area were capable of producing more food to feed the nation and for export.

He said Sissala area used to be one of the largest producers of cotton but its production in recent times had declined due to lack of credit facilities.

Kuoro Kanton was addressing chiefs and people of Tumu Traditional Area to mark his outdooring at Tumu on Thursday.

He said the cotton industry could be viable if government committed more resources to improve the sector.

The Tumu Kuoro appealed to the government to take a holistic review and restructuring of the cotton industry so that farmers would get the full benefits of their labour.

He also appealed to the government to consider providing seed processing machine to the Tumu Cotton Ginnery to extract oil to maximize profit and create jobs for the youth.

Kuoro Kanton said the people in the area had depended on rain fed agriculture which of late had been characterised by floods and droughts as a result of climate change.

He suggested the provision of new dams and the rehabilitation of old ones at Tumu, Tarsor and Kong to promote dry season gardening.

On roads, Kuoro Kanton expressed concern about the conditions of roads in the district and said Tumu was one of the district capitals that had not been linked by tarred road to any district capital, thereby hampering the socio-economic activities of the people.

He said many lives had been lost through accidents and sometimes when patients were being transported to Wa or Bolgatanga Hospitals for treatment.

He said the Tumu/Navrongo and Tumu/Wa roads had been on the drawing board for far too long, adding: "If there is any important service any government can do for the people of Sissala area, indeed the entire Upper West Region, it must be the construction of this highway".

Talking about culture, Kuoro Kanton said his vision was to re-introduce the "Paari-gbiele" festival that had been abandoned and called for government support to enable him to achieve his vision.

He said although his traditional area was relatively peaceful, he was aware of some few spots which have outstanding chieftaincy disputes and promised to use effective dialogue to resolve them.

He appealed to the government to provide office accommodation for his traditional council to enhance work.

On security, he said the upsurge of armed robbery cases in some parts of the area had resulted in the loss of lives and property.

The chief mentioned a recent robbery at the Tumu Cooperative Credit Union and cattle rustling as a source of worry to the people and called on personnel of the security agencies to weed out those miscreants from the district.

GNA