Some 600 farmers in the Nsuta Kwagye area of the Ashanti Region have received support from government through the Ministry of Trade of Industry following the construction of a factory for the processing of maize.
The factory, which has the capacity to process 4-5 tonnes of dry maize, and five tonnes of maize grits per day respectively, was established with support from the African Development Bank.
It is expected to provide value addition to common farm produce which would be sold to key markets and export purposes under the 1D1F Common User Facility (CUF) initiative.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, speaking with journalists after the factory was inaugurated explained the facility falls in line with the concept of the One-District-One-Factory initiative and was optimistic that it will remain viable for the community and farmers.
“We have identified that there is no 1D1F factory here, but the common food commodity coming from this area is maize and the farmers are willing to make more income from the commodity through processing or adding value," the minister said.
He continued, "...So, our resolve is to bring them together and put some funds to add up their capital and get the support of the African Development Bank to establish this facility which is replicated in the other four regions of the country”.
“This is a new model of financing for common user facilities to help our farmers earn more income from their products and also the dividends from the factory since they have become owners of the facility”, Alan Kyerematen added.
Meanwhile, the Trade Minister prior to the opening of the facility inaugurated a 10-member board of the factory which will be chaired by one of the farmers nominated among the Farmer Based Organisations (FBOs).
He, therefore, charged the new Board and management to ensure that the factory is well managed and economically viable to the community and country at large.
Country Manager of the African Development Bank, Eyerusalem Fasika speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb Business said the establishment of the factory cost around $6.7 million.
Explaining the rationale behind the investment, Madame Fasika said it falls in line with government’s industrialisation drive which is aimed at enhancing the country’s domestic production and export regime.
“I want to urge the beneficiary farmers to make good use of the facility to produce the expected results for growth and development of the community and the country at large,” she noted.
The factory located in Nsuta Kwagye in the Sekyere Central District of the Ashanti Region is equipped with a maize processing plant, machinery, storage house, office equipment, and a vehicle, among others.
About the 1D1F Common User Facility
The 1D1F Common User Facility (CUF) is a farmer-owned agro-industrial processing facility established with seed funding from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) under the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP).
The CUF 1D1F concept was conceived in 2017, following a policy direction by MOTI to realign the REP to be consistent with the Government of Ghana’s Industrial Transformation Agenda being implemented by MOTI.
The model seeks to enhance the ability of farmers and other agricultural value chain actors, with little or no financial capacity to establish their own Common User processing facilities to process their farm products.
In response to this constraint, MOTI sought funding from African Development Bank to introduce this new concept of establishing CUFs in five districts including the Sekyere Maize Processing facility.
MA/FNOQ
