Accra, Feb. 25, GNA - Mr. Alan Kyerematen, Minister for Trade and Industries on Friday said the year 2006 was a year of action for industrialisation and there was the need to operationalise and build the country's industrial base, especially for entrepreneurs who were in the pito brewing business.

He said, this would help create significant economic activity in the North and eliminate the level of poverty in the three regions of the North where sorghum was grown and could be used in the breweries. Mr Kyeremanteng said this when he visited a brewing plant, funded by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Common Fund for Commodities at the Food Research Institute in Accra. Mr Clement Djame, a consultant on malting and brewing of Sorghum Malt Project said the project, yet to be commissioned would be a relief to many pito brewers mostly in the northern part of the country because it was a tedious task for the women who are mostly engaged in that trade. He said the plant had two sections, multi plant with a capacity of using 100 kilos of sorghum per week and a brewing section which could brew up to a minimum of one bag and maximum of four litres of pito. He said the institute had encouraged local pito brewers to form cooperatives so that they could acquire the equipment to improve their business.

He said the malt could not only be used for pito brewing but also as baby foods.

He said the aim was to make the crop a cash crop and to encourage farmers to go into its cultivation. 25.Feb.06