Asiakwa (ER), Oct. 21, GNA- The East Akyem District Assembly has begun training farmers under the Community Based Rural Development Project with the aim of diversifying the local economy of the district through the adoption of alternate farming practices.

The aim of the project is to create employment in the district and to preserve the vegetation cover of Akyem Abuakwa to create opportunities for the growth of an eco-tourism industry in the area.

Already, the assembly has sponsored a number of farmers to prepare the grounds for an eventual diversification of the local economy to embrace new concepts such as grass-cutter hearing and bee-keeping without compromising the ecology of the Atiwa forest range.

This came to light at the passing out ceremony of 25 farmers trained by the Asiakwa based Farm Bee Training Centre last Thursday after receiving two weeks intensive tuition in animal breeding, animal husbandry, farm sanitation and farm management techniques.

Addressing the closing ceremony, the East Akim District Planning Officer, Mr Samson.S. Agbeve, called for a concerted national efforts towards the elimination of extreme poverty and hunger in Ghana and charged the trainees to serve as the assembly's agents of change .

He said, in line with Government policy directives, the assembly had initiated a number of programmes that would help facilitate private sector competitiveness using the micro-credit- schemes.

Mr. Agbeve said, the assembly, faced with the problems observed at the implementation of the Poverty Alleviation Fund, decided to adopt a more pro-active way of financing institutions to ensure sound management of resources that were being allocated to groups and individuals.

He therefore, challenged the beneficiaries of the project not to dissipate the funds that were to be allocated to them to enable them to commence their projects.

A Senior Manager with the Atiwa Rural Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Otchere, expressed the readiness of the bank to support programmes by the assembly that were aimed at the transfer of skills to the farmers at the grassroots to improve on their lot.

The Managing Director of Farm Bee Limited, Mrs Margaret Kwapong, said her outfit was willing to become a major centre for the transfer of technology and training of farmers to improve on agricultural practices in the district.

She said, giving farmers sound but less expensive training in farm technology was one surest way of helping improve agricultural development in the country.

Mrs Kwapong disclosed that, each of the participant was to be given 10 million cedis of which 40 per cent would later be converted into a grant to enable them to begin their own farms which could join others to establish a co-operative society for easy marketing and financial management.