Nkoranza, June 14, GNA - Nkoranza District Assembly has acquired 4,500 acres of land at Ayerede to entice unemployed youth to engage in the cultivation of maize and cashew.

Mr James Kwabena Appiah-Awuah, the District Chief Executive, told Ghana News Agency at Nkoranza that the project would offer employment to more than 1,000 youth.

He said the government had, through the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment, made available three new tractors and accessories to the assembly to encourage the youth to embrace the project. "The assembly is also in the process of acquiring three additional tractors to replicate the project in other communities in the district." Mr Appiah-Awuah said the assembly had decided to assist more than 300 farmers in the district to cultivate vegetables, notably green pepper, for both domestic and foreign markets. He said the district was benefiting from the Community Based Rural Development Project (CBDRP), a World Bank-sponsored project. Some people in Nkoranza would be trained and supported to undertake grass cutter rearing, snail farming, mushroom cultivation and herbal farming.

The assembly would liase with traditional authorities to acquire land for forestation projects and to plant economic trees along the banks of water bodies to protect them. The two main water bodies in Nkoranza considered for the programme are River Fia and River Pru.