The Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) has built an irrigation facility for farmers at Yikine in the Upper East Region to enable them to farm all year round and ensure food security.

The new irrigation facility is the furrow system and has a solar powered mechanised borehole, which would serve a dual purpose of farming and providing potable water to the community for consumption.

The 80,000 Ghana Cedis facility formed part of ABL’s Corporate Social Responsibility towards improving farming activities in the area.

Speaking at the handover ceremony at Yinkine last Thursday, the Brand Manager of the Company, Mr Jerry Gokah, stressed that the Company’s key ambition was the sustainability of development programmes and indicated that long term sustainability of businesses depended on growing economies, health of communities, and responsible use of scarce natural resources.

He said: “It is in line with this goal that Eagle Larger Beer is being developed as a Sustainable Development Brand to grow the economy through agro-based and social intervention programmes.”

The Brand Manager explained that the Region was chosen for the Launch pad of the Eagle farmer initiative because it was the largest contributor to Eagle sale volumes.

He pointed out that with the introduction of the Eagle Larger Cassava Beer, the company had created a significant number of direct and indirect jobs for cassava farmers and others along the value chain.

Mr Gokah stated that the Yikine Irrigation project brings the Company’s total package for the Farmers’ Day Celebration to 120,000 Ghana Cedis, following the donation of 220 assorted products plus a cheque of 20,000 Ghana Cedis.

Mr James Zuugah Tiigah, the Upper East Regional Minister, lauded the Company for contributing to the development of the agriculture sector.

He said Government recognised that agriculture was the driving force to anchor Ghana on the higher middle income pedestal through its forward and backward linkages with other sectors of the economy.

The Regional Minister said the irrigation facility would help address the long period duration of drought, which affected farming activities in the area, and also reduce the spate of rural urban migration among the youth in the Region, who often trooped to the southern parts of the country in search on non-existent jobs.

He announced that the Government had embarked upon the expansion and rehabilitation of Irrigation Schemes in the Region which included the Vea and the Tono dams.

He urged the chief and people of the Yikine community to form committees to take good care of the new project to ensure its sustainability

The Chief of Yikine, Naba Abeerince II, indicated that the community was overwhelmed by the project and expressed his gratitude to the Company for the support.