Ejura-Ashanti, Dec. 27, GNA 96 Dr Joshua Ayarkwa, Ejura-Sekyedumase District Chief Executive, has appealed to chiefs in Ejura, Sekyedumase and Anyinasu to release about 405 hectares for the Ejura-Sekyedumase District Assembly towards the Youth in Farming Programme of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) next year. He said these were part of the efforts to get most of the youth from the district out of the streets of Accra and Kumasi, reduce anti-social vices such as prostitution, stealing, streetism and robbery among the youth and give them hope for the future.

Dr Ayarkwa made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the Government's Youth Employment Programme in the district at Ejura.

He noted that the district had large tract of arable land for agriculture but access to land for farming was a problem and appealed to Ejura Traditional Council to expedite action on the release of a 25 square-kilometre land for MOFA to develop the proposed cattle ranch to boost livestock production in the district.

The DCE was optimistic that funds would be released before the next major farming season for the district to cultivate 405 hectares of food crops by about 500 unemployed youth who had applied for assistance under the NYEP.

=93It is an undeniable fact that Ejura-Sekyedumase is an agricultural district since over 60 per cent of the people depend on agriculture, the choice of the agric-business module as the main avenue for job creation for the youth is right,=94 he said.

Dr Ayarkwa said over-dependence on crop farming in the district partly accounted for the high poverty among the people and called on them to diversify into grasscutter rearing, bee-keeping, poultry farming, especially guinea fowl as alternative agricultural ventures which were not rain-dependent and could be carried out all-year round. He said Government was making efforts to open up the area with improvement in the road network to facilitate movement of goods and services.

However, Dr Ayarkwa pointed out that more efforts would be needed on feeder roads to enable farmers transport their produce to major market centres in the district to prevent post-harvest losses and make agriculture attractive to the unemployed youth.