The investments of farmers at Mmofra, a cocoa growing community in the Amenfi West District of the Western Region, are going to waste due to the deplorable nature of the roads linking the town to the nearest market centre.
The situation had made it impossible for farmers to transport their cocoa and other farm produce to Mumuni Camp, the closest market centre, Mr Joseph Owusu, an opinion leader and cocoa farmer, told the Ghana News Agency on Friday.
He said: “The cocoa buying companies have stopped coming to the community to purchase our cocoa because of the bad nature of the road”.
“Though the community is one of the highest producers of cocoa in the region, produce buyers hardly purchase our cocoa because they cannot come here.”
Mr Owusu said traders, especially foodstuff dealers, who managed to go to the town with hired cargo trucks took advantage of the farmers inability to convey their produce to the market and offered prices below the realistic market value.
He said they had no choice but to agree to those prices to prevent their produce from getting rotten and incurring huge financial losses.
Mr Owusu said the situation had adversely affected their socio-economic lives, with parents and guardians finding it difficult to finance their children and wards education.
Madam Elizabeth Acheamotah, a cocoa famer, said the road was so bad that only tractors, motorbikes and tricycles could ply it,” adding: “The road has been in that state for more than eleven years.”
She said the fares charged by the tricycle, popularly called ‘Aboboyaa’ were based on the number of hours spent on the road, which also affected their health due to its bumpy nature.
“It takes about three to four hours to cover the distance, though it should have been shorter time than that if the road were in good shape,” she added.
Some residents who spoke to the GNA pleaded with the government through the District Assembly and the Regional Coordinating Council to facilitate rehabilitation of the roads to save them from their predicament.
Source: GNA