Business News of Friday, 31 May 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Agriculture Extension Officers receives motorbikes

DCE (Right), presenting the keys of one of the motorbikes to the Agric Director DCE (Right), presenting the keys of one of the motorbikes to the Agric Director

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Asene-Manso-Akroso, Mr Alex Incoom, has handed over the keys of seven motorbikes to the District Agriculture Unit to be distributed to Extension Officers to improve service delivery.

The move forms part of effort to improve extension and monitoring services under the government flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) as the basis for transforming the country’s economy.

Handing over the keys to the District Agriculture Director, Mr Prosper Eklu for onward distribution to the Extension Officers, the DCE indicated that the motorbikes were part of the 3,000 motorbikes being distributed nationwide under the Modernising Agricultural Ghana (MAG) programme.

According to him, the move also aims at enhancing the efficiency of agricultural extension agents whose roles were critical to successful implementation of the PFJ programme.

He pledged government’s continuous support for farmers and staff of the Department, to achieve the objective of transforming the economy through agriculture.

Receiving the motorbikes, the District Agriculture Director, lauded the government for investing heavily in the PFJ programme, which he said had greatly benefited farmers in the District and the entire country.

He said farmers in the District were able to increase their yield in 2017 and 2018 as results of being supplied with improve seeds and fertilizer as well as extension services under the programme.

Mr. Eklu promised to ensure regular maintenance of the motorbikes, to ensure they worked efficiently.

In a related development, the DCE also donated 200 bags of cement, a ton of iron rods, boxes of nails and two trips of quarry stones to the chiefs and people of Akyem Tabita to support the construction of a three-unit classroom block with ancillary facilities by the community as part of government’s support for community self-help programmes.