Saamang (Eastern Region) -- Farmers have been called upon to treat cassava products in a hygienic manner to prevent them from contamination. The Eastern Region Women in Agriculture Development Officer of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mrs Emelia Nortey, made the call at a day's workshop on the processing and storage of roots and tubers crops for 40 women farmers at Saamang in the Fanteakwa District.

The workshop was organised by MOFA to sensitise the farmers on the need to process and preserve cassava products so as to add value to them for marketing. Mrs Nortey deplored the manner "Kokonte" and other cassava products have been dried on bare floor and along the roads thereby exposing them to dust and animal droppings.

She said such practice made the products unhygienic and harmful to human consumption. She also asked farmers to wash cassava products well before drying them for preservation.

The Fanteakwa District Director of MOFA, Mr Godwin Ocloo, was optimistic the workshop would assist farmers to boost cassava production and improve on storage facilities in the district. Mr Ocloo asked the participants to put the skills acquired at the workshop to proper use to encourage more farmers in the district to go into cassava production in a more hygienic manner