Blind farmer wants assistance to expand farms

By: Ernest Best Anane, Kumasi
Evangelist James Opoku, who was adjudged the 2011 Best Cocoa Farmer in the Sekyere East District of the Ashanti Region, is appealing for support from the government to help him expand his farm.
He says his disability was not a licence for him to go onto the streets to beg for alms, hence his resolve to do something productive, and consequently ventured into farming upon the successful completion of the Akropong School of the Blind, culminating in his award last year.
The blind Evangelist, who travelled to The Chronicle office in Kumasi, announced his intention to expand his farm, and also go into fish farming poultry, livestock, and plantain production.
According to him, the proposed expansion was geared towards annexing either the Regional and National best farmer award, as well as to serve as an example for his colleagues with physical challenges.
“I want to send a signal to them that disability is not inability,” he stressed, and advised them to go into productive venture to become useful in society.
He appealed to the Society for the Disabled to ensure that its members stay off the streets by encouraging them to acquire employable skills.
He disclosed that he intends acquiring  a 20-acre parcel land, which will cost him about GH¢3,000, and appealed to the government and the Ministry of Agriculture to help him raise the funds to enable him embark on the proposed fish farming project under the expansion programme.
Evangelist Opoku further appealed to non-governmental organisations and cooperate bodies to establish training centers to train more disabled persons, which, he said, would go a long way to eliminate the act of begging on the streets.

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