Abutia-Kissiflui (V/R), May 11, GNA - A gari processing centre has been constructed for the people of Abutia-Kissiflui, a cassava producing community in the Ho Municipality with the hope that it would help increase the people's earnings. The facility is to help add value to cassava, increase the shelf life span of the cassava product and to ensure food security in the municipality.

The Progressive Youth and Community Development (PROYCOD), a non-governmental organization with assistance from GORTA, Ireland, built the facility valued at more than 80 million cedis. The centre also has a husker for maize processing.

Mrs. Susana Delali Aduakye, Project Coordinator of PROYCOD said the facility was to empower the rural youth and women to be self-reliant. She noted that over the years, people in the community had lost a lot of money due to the lack of storage and processing facilities, especially when there was a glut in the local market. Mrs Aduakye said the centre would solve the problem of storage while her outfit sets up a marketing group to get the final product to the consumers to complete the production chain. She said as a support base for the processing plant, PROYCOD was mobilizing the youth who were into agriculture to cultivate 50 acres of cassava to feed the plant.

Mr John Dogbe, Private Sector Development Advisor of Netherlands Development Agency (SNV), who inaugurated the centre urged the community to manage the facility well.

He suggested the establishment of a hospital and cr=E8che for the children of those who would work at the centre. Togbe Moyibor II, Chief of Abutia-Kissiflui, expressed gratitude to the sponsors and pledged to use the facility wisely for the economic emancipation of the people.