Cape Coast, Dec. 2, GNA – Through aggressive e-agro-marketing strategies, the Oti Region has facilitated the trade of more than GH¢31,000.00 farm commodities in 24-months, Mr Joshua Makubu, the Regional Minister has announced.
He said its social media platforms, particularly Oti-RAD Facebook and WhatsApp, allowed marketers to connect and engage potential customers regardless of one’s location or status.
“The Region through its WhatsApp platform has been able to sell commodities such as rice, beans, gari, dried pepper and pigs, amounting to GH¢31,050.00 and this figure is expected to grow in astronomical terms as the patronage improves,” he assured.
The Regional Minister announced this when the region took its turn at the ongoing 37th National Farmers’Day celebration and Trade Exhibitions at the Adisadel School Park in Cape Coast.
The agro-exhibition offered the various regions the privilege to showcase their agricultural endowments to attract and retain investors to create jobs and improve revenue generation.
Leveraging on emerging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and national e-agriculture drive, the Minister expressed the Region’s readiness to go all out to improve the livelihood of farmers.
“The Region is keen on promoting agribusinesses to facilitate and promote market linkages for all actors along the value chain with quarterly Regional Agribusiness Partnership stakeholders engagements.
They are consequently, working towards adopting strategies that target quality food production, aggregation, processing and packing, distribution and retailing to improve food systems.
They will ensure quality seeds were readily available to all Farmers for timely application of the right type and quantity of fertilizers under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ).
Comparatively, Mr Makubu said the Region has enormous agricultural investment advantage in crops and livestock like yam, rice, maize, groundnut, soya bean, ginger oil palm, cowpea, cashew, vegetables and cattle, goat and sheep
It also has large scale agro-processing groups of cassava, yam, oil palm and ginger while acquaculture, tourism and the hospitality industry are also thriving.
On agriculture mechanisation, he said the government had distributed 45 free hand-held rice harvesters to 14 Farmer-based Organisations made up of 225 people, including 130 males and 95 females to boost rice production and stem post-harvest losses.
The government, he stated, was also constructing many rural roads to link up markets for swift movement of farm produce from the rural areas to the urban centres.
In line with this, of the total of 495km of trunk roads in the region, 235km were under construction saying “it is a clear demonstration of government’s declaration of 2021 as “Year of Roads.”
GNA