Wa, June 8, GNA - Food processing and exporting companies at the weekend appealed to farmers engaged in food and cash crop production in the north to step up their production levels to meet both domestic and international demands.

"The current levels of production is not only stifling the progress of our factories but is also increasing the rate of unemployment as we keep on producing and exporting under capacity, thereby reducing our staff annually."

The processors and exporters, who are mostly from the south, made this appeal at a meeting with farmers and officials of Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) at Wa. The meeting, which was sponsored by Northern Rural Growth Programme, a non-governmental organization, was to afford the processors and exporters the opportunity to outline their demands, varieties and quantity of crops they need and to support farmers to increase production to meet their demands.

Most of them demanded sorghum, groundnuts, soyabeans, chilly pepper, sheanuts, maize, okra, rice, and other fruits and vegetables. Mr. Roy Ayariga, National Programme Coordinator of NRGP, said production levels would be increased in the next three years to meet both domestic and international consumption. He said his outfit had received a sponsorship package that would work on infrastructure such as roads, storage facilities, dams and dug-outs and develop marketing centres in the three northern regions. Mr. Ayariga, who attributed poor yields in the sector to poor seeds and lack of farming expertise, said extension officers would be sponsored to supervise and educate farmers. He said improved seeds and good seed varieties would also be recommended to farmers.

He said the NRGP would work hard to ensure that food crops such as rice, sorghum and vegetables are no longer imported from neighbouring countries and also to ensure that both farmers and investors would not experience any loss. Mr. Peter Kutah, Enterprise Development Manager of Accra Brewery Limited, said the company would soon come out with two new drinks and would therefore need maize and sorghum. He said because the farmers in the country could not meet their demands, they had over the years imported both maize and barley from South Africa to keep their business going on.

"Last year for example we contracted a company to supply us with maize and sorghum for our products and it was a serious disaster which we are not praying to experience again." 08 June 09