The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, John Dumelo, has inaugurated a Cattle Ranch Task Force to regulate the movement of nomadic herdsmen and their animals in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District in the Eastern Region.

The task force is also to help prevent the destruction of crop farms and at the same time ensure that both herdsmen and crop farmers co-exist peacefully in the district.

The inauguration of the task force, which took place at Amankwakrom, coincided with the marking of the third edition of the annual Interprofessional Collaboration for Community Development (ICCD) for the area.

The two-day event brought together influencer voices as well as other relevant stakeholders from the health, education and agricultural sectors to brainstorm the socio-economic potential of the district and chart a path towards a self-reliant future.

The Deputy Agric Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawase West Wuogon, highlighted the economic potential of the area and asked members of the task force to ensure that the destruction of crop farms by cattle and mistrust between the herdsmen and the farmers would be a thing of the past.

Mr Dumelo advised members of the task force that in all their deliberations, they should ensure they operated within the confines of the law.

That, Mr Dumelo explained, would also help reduce post-harvest losses which had become one of the main challenges facing crop farmers in the area.

The Deputy Agric Minister also used the occasion to appeal to the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the area to ensure that the assembly would institute bye-laws to enforce, regulate and control the movement of cattle unnecessarily to prevent the destruction of the farms by the cattle.

With regard to the government’s assistance to farmers, Mr Dumelo appealed to the farmers in the area to form co-operatives to enable them to benefit from the Feed Ghana Programme (FGP).

He stated that the FGP was designed to directly support organised groups of farmers to access farmer service centres (FSCs), banking and financial services, credit and investment, input subsidies, market linkage and price negotiation among others.

For his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Wolarse Kpeli commended the leadership of the foundation for driving a self-led development in the area since agriculture when harnessed to its full potential brings income to the people as well as uniting communities.

On bad roads in the area, the MP said the government was committed to rehabilitating the poor roads to enable farmers to transport their farm produce to the market centres without any problem, adding that the Afram River would also be constructed to open up the Afram Plains for more investors to visit there frequently.

The Chief of Amankwakrom, Nana Otukwa Mpareko VI, who is also the Founder of the Kwahu Asabi Royal Foundation, encouraged collaboration through community-led initiatives that would align with national development goals.

The occasion also witnessed the official unveiling of a menstrual hygiene management (MHM) campaign on the theme “She thrives, We Rise” to sensitise the community to menstrual issues.