Nkoranza (B/A) Sept. 13, GNA - Action Aid Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, has in collaboration with the Nkoranza District Assembly presented cages worth about 25 million cedis to 25 selected farmers in the district to undertake grasscutter rearing.

The German Technical Corporation (GTZ) recently organized a training workshop for the farmers at Sunyani to equip them with the knowledge and skills in the rearing of the animals.

Mr. Kwame Ampofo-Twumasi, DCE, who made the presentation, explained that the rationale behind the introduction of grasscutter project, beekeeping, snail farming and mushroom farming, "is to enable farmers to diversify their methods of farming as the soil continues to lose its fertility."

He asked the farmers to attach great importance to the project and manage their farms properly to produce more grasscutters for sale to improve their economic well-being.

The DCE urged the farmers to organize interested colleagues and give them the necessary training so they could also embark on the similar projects.

Mr. Ampofo-Twumasi emphasized that the government was greatly concerned about the welfare of farmers, hence the offer of such facilities and urged them to handle the project properly so that the huge investment made by the government and Action Aid would not go to waste.

He urged the farmers to support and promote the activities of the anti-bushfire volunteers to check the spread of bushfires as the annual disaster has been blamed on grasscutter hunters in the communities. Other farmers who cultivate maize, cassava, yam, plantain, cocoyam and the like should also do well to embrace the grasscutter rearing project to enhance their activities, he advised.

Mr. Kwasi Baffo, District Chairman of the Grasscutter Breeders' Association expressed gratitude to the government and Action Aid for providing them with the needed logistics for the project.

He urged his colleagues to go back and work hard to reap profits from the project to commensurate the efforts of the donors.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the association, Mr. Samuel Adutwim, advised other farmers interested in the project to register to receive the necessary training and skills. 13 Sept. 03