MP for Wenchi pledge support for Agriculture Research Centre to Boost Cashew

The Member of Parliament for Wenchi in the Bono Region, Seidu Haruna has reiterated his commitment to help improve the operation of the Wench Agriculture Research Centre to provide farmers support base services in the country.

Hon Seidu made the pledge when he visited the Wenchi Agriculture Research centre during their cashew master training programme (MTP) field visit.

He said the centre has contributed significantly to the development of research in the agriculture sector and promised to support the institution to provide services to improve cashew cultivation in the area a d

The master training programme was done in collaboration with African Cashew Alliance (ACA), GIZ MOVE and Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) and the Wenchi Agriculture Station of the Directorate of Crop Services of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

The MP expressed concern about the need of authority to devise ways to improve the chain value of Cashew to generate more income for farmers.

He said, unlike Ghana that sells its cashew products in raw form, other cashew growing countries in Africa, particularly Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, Tanzania, Kenya, among others have improved the chain value of their produce with modernized processing which help to the farmers to get real value for money.

“As a member of the Food and Agriculture committee of parliament, I am committed to doing my utmost to facilitate the expansion of this research center. You are doing well and we must all support you. It is not easy staying in this bush all this while, and I must commend your manager (Sylvester De Clercq Mensah). He has been in this institution for long. Anytime I visit here, he is here and working. He has done well and we must all do our best to support him and encourage him to continue the good works,“ Hon Seidu Haruna said.

The Station Manager, Sylvester de Clercq Mensah, expressed gratitude to the MP for his support over the years and assured that, the Research centre would continue to work to uncover more new agriculture methods to boost food security.

***The Station Manager, Sylvester de Clercq Mensah, with Hon Seidu Haruna***

He said the training session gives participants opportunity to appreciate the extent of cashew research in Ghana as well as enable them to have a hands-on practice.

“It is expected that the exercise will impact on the growth of 12 participating countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’ivoire, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Mali, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique,” he said.