Keep illegal miners off tree-crop farms — TCDA
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), Dr Andy Osei Okrah, has appealed to traditional authorities in the country to desist from releasing tree-crop plantations and productive agricultural lands to illegal miners.
He said the destruction of established tree-crop farms, particularly cashew plantations, for illegal mining activities could undermine years of investment by farmers and deprive communities of sustainable sources of income.
Dr Okrah, who made the call at the inauguration of the TCDA’s Bono Regional Office in Sunyani last Friday, warned that such practices threatened the sustainability of Ghana’s tree-crop industry.
He stressed the need for traditional authorities, farmers and other land custodians to protect productive agricultural lands and tree-crop plantations from activities that could permanently damage their economic value.
Dr Okrah called for stronger collaboration among the TCDA, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Bono Regional Coordinating Council, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, traditional authorities, farmer associations and research institutions to improve the regulation and development of the tree-crop sector.
He said the opening of the Bono Regional Office represented an important step in decentralising TCDA services and bringing regulatory support, technical information and accountability closer to farmers and other value-chain actors.
“I wish to emphasise that this office is not only for cashew. It is a regional office for the development and regulation of six selected tree crops under the TCDA cashew, coconut, oil palm, rubber, mango and shea,” he said.
The TCDA was established under the Tree Crops Development Authority Act, 2019 (Act 1010), with the mandate to regulate and develop the production, processing and trading of the six selected tree crops.
Dr Okrah expressed appreciation to MoFA and the Bono Regional Minister for facilitating the provision of the office complex and assured stakeholders that the facility would be put to effective use.
He urged stakeholders to position the Bono Region as a diversified tree-crop production hub, saying greater attention should be given to crops such as shea and mango, in addition to cashew.
Dr Okrah also stressed the need to increase local processing and value addition in the tree-crop sector.
He said the government’s policy direction required the country to process between 50 and 60 per cent of production locally, adding that the TCDA was focused on ensuring that local processors had access to adequate raw materials.
The Bono Regional Minister, Joseph Addae Akwaboah, said the inauguration of the TCDA office marked an important milestone in efforts to strengthen the tree-crop sector and promote sustainable agricultural development in the region.
He said the Bono Region had enormous potential for tree-crop production, noting that crops such as cocoa, coconut and oil palm contributed significantly to farmers’ livelihoods and the local economy.
Mr Akwaboah, however, said the full potential of the sector could only be realised when farmers had access to appropriate technology, markets, quality planting materials, extension services and effective regulatory mechanisms.
He, therefore, welcomed the establishment of the regional TCDA office, saying its presence in the region would bring regulatory and technical services closer to farmers and other actors in the tree-crop value chain.
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH, SUNYANI
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