Madam Josephine Awuku Ansaa Nkoom, the District Chief Executive for Ayensuano in the Eastern Region, has applauded farmers in the area for ensuring food sustainability despite climate change challenges.

She said climate change had posed significant challenges to agriculture, threatening food security and livelihoods, but through the innovative solutions by farmers of the district, the impact was not much felt in the area.

Madam Nkoom sang the praise during an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Dokrochiwa.

She said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government administration, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had rolled out many interventions to help farmers gain access to finance, inadequate extension services and post-harvest losses that hindered their productivity.

“In the past few years, the government rolled out the Planting for Food and Jobs (phase ‘1’ and ‘2’), Planting for Export and Rural Development, provision of pesticides and fertilizer and investment in research, and provided crops that can withstand extreme weather conditions,” Madam Nkoom said.

The DCE indicated that the district had received tremendous support from the central government under the Planting for Export and Rural Development and that 29,442 oil palm seedlings were provided to farmers in the area.

A total of 222 farmers, 193 males and 29 females, benefitted from the distribution of the seedlings.

“This support has not only empowered our farmers but has paved the way for a more inclusive and gender-balanced agricultural sector in our district as it strives to achieve equal gender balance and representation in all sectors of the district’s economy,” Madam Nkoom said.

She said the support was also a testament to the government’s commitment to promoting export-oriented crops initiative, saying, “We can confidently say that we are on the right path towards diversifying our agricultural sector and increasing the income-generating potential of our farmers.

“The district has also received crucial assistance in the form of a warehouse from the government through the Ministry of Special Development Initiative, which would play an important role in storing food products and reduce wastage, a major problem undermining farmers’ effort in producing more,” she added.

Madam Nkoom appealed for irrigation systems and the posting of extension officers to assist farmers to ensure all-round farming given climate change.

She urged the people to retain the NPP government in power by voting massively in the coming presidential and parliamentary elections so they could work together to build a prosperous future for the district and the country.