Techiman (Brong Ahafo), 19 July '99,

The Agricultural Development bank has advised farmers to desist from engaging front men in the acquisition of loans from the bank.

At a meeting with farmers at Techiman, Mr E.S. Danso, Techiman District Manager of the bank, said the practice makes it difficult to identify loan defaulters

The meeting was organised by the Techiman District Secretariat of the Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF) to create awareness about farm income losses and loan utilisation.

The meeting also discussed good marketing strategies to be adopted to ensure good prices for their produce.

Mr Danso noted that most farmers granted loans by the ADB under the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) scheme in the Techiman district are still owing the bank, even though the period of refund is over.

He said the bank is taking steps to recover the loans through a ''house-to- house" loan collection exercise, and when that fails, it would resort to court action.

Mr Danso noted that farmers do not use the loans for the purpose for which they are acquired and advised them to use them profitably.