Bolgatanga, Sept. 21, GNA –Naba Yelzoya Kosom Asaga II, the Paramount Chief of the Nangodi Traditional area, has advocated for improved dairy cows under the Rearing for Food and Jobs programme (RFJs) to promote local milk production for local consumption and export.
He said it would create income earning and export opportunities for farmers, women and youth, and urged Government to put more emphasis into agriculture and agricultural programmes to benefit the rural people.
Naaba Asaga who lauded the agriculture programme on Rearing for food and Jobs and Planting for Food and Jobs in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga in the Upper East region, said it was important for some of the RFJs interventions to be tailored to enrich and meet nutritional needs as well as improve livelihoods of the rural people.
“Livestock and crop cultivation are our major activities and therefore the agricultural interventions should benefit all our people,” Chief Asaga said, and called for the small ruminants’ programme to be stepped up to include dairy cattle for farmers, to boost milk production.
He said it was important to enhance agricultural processing in the Upper East Region to enable people in the production chain add value to products such as milk.
“That will be a lucrative business as it can be processed into many forms such as cheese, butter and many more,” he added.
He said that could also open doors for women and the youth to venture into dairy products and open business opportunities for fodder supplies in the Region.
He suggested that young interested people could be trained to add value to the products.
He also urged government to step up the fertilizer subsidy to farmers to improve food production in the Region.
GNA