Apostle Derek Sarpong, member of the Apostolic Council of the Great Commission Church International, has urged the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to promote mushroom farming in the three northern regions.

Apostle Sarpong, a mushroom farmer, said this on Monday in an Interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

He said there were huge health and economic benefits from mushrooms which could promote the health and welfare of the citizenry if it was cultivated, adding that mushroom farming could create jobs for the teaming unemployed youth and help in poverty alleviation.

According to him, mushrooms could be cultivated in every part of the nation requiring the right humidity and temperature.

He said the demand for mushroom on the international market was so high but “The whole country cannot boast of 10,000 tonnes of mushrooms per month for the export market”.

Apostle Sarpong said the Mushroom Growers Association of Ghana was ever ready to provide training programmes for people who intended to become mushroom growers.

Apostle Sarpong said the health benefits of mushrooms included improvement in the body’s immune system and the prevention of all forms of cancers and tumors. “If you are regular on mushroom diets you cannot be attacked by any forms of cancers,” he said.

He said a research carried out in Rwanda showed that children who were fed on mushrooms had reduced chances of getting ill and since then, the Rwandan government had decided to promote mushroom farming.

Apostle Sarpong said because mushroom farming was relatively a new field, many traditional banks were not willing to grant loans to mushroom farmers.

“To the youths of Ghana I say there are job opportunities all over, it does not matter whether you are educated or not. There is so much that mushroom farming can offer all Ghanaians,” Apostle Sarpong said.