Gold Fields Ghana Limited, through the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation, has launched an oil palm project at Abekoase in the Prestea Hunni-Valley Municipality.
The project, which has the slogan “Grow Oil Palm, Secure Your Future,” is to create jobs for the people in the communities in which the company operates, as well as support the local economy to grow.
157 farmers, 40% of whom are females, are involved in this phase of the project, and have been trained and supported with inputs – fertiliser, weedicides, pesticides, knapsack sprayers, wellington boots and overalls.
Also, they have been supplied 23,005 high yield Tenera seedlings, which have been cultivated. The total cost of inputs and training, organised for the farmers, is estimated at GH¢822,000.
Mr. Robert Siaw, Regional Sustainability Manager, Gold Fields West Africa Operations, recalled that 17 years ago, the company, together with it host communities, collaborated with Opportunities Industrialisation Center International (OICI) to implement a five-year Sustainable Community Empowerment and Economic Development programme, dubbed SEED.
According to him, the programme focused on education, health and alternative livelihood. Under the Alternative Livelihood Programme module, the best project was the oil palm project and Gold Fields supplied Tenera seedling to selected farmers for cultivation.
“Few beneficiaries were committed to the programme and benefitted from the multiple values of the oil palm trees, including ready income when they sold their produce to the oil processing entities at Tarkwa and its environs,” he said.
He mentioned that in recent years, there had been renewed interest, and a call from community members on Gold Fields to re-introduce the oil palm project, probably after these farmers had witnessed the benefited accruing to the few committed farmers.
“Gold Fields Foundation, with its avowed commitment to help sustain livelihoods in host communities, accepted to re-introduce the Oil Palm Project, hence, the launched today,” he added.
“The importance of oil palm is not lost on all; its long-life span over 40- to 70 years on the average, coupled with the multiple values, including brooms and baskets from the branches, mushrooms even when it is decaying among others ensure long term income stems to the family.”
Albert Bonney, Director of Agriculture, said people in the Prestea Huni Valley Municipality had been trained on the best management and cultural practices to follow in oil palm production for higher yield.
He commended Gold Fields for the support, and advised the beneficiary farmers to make the project successful by ensuring that ever palm tree bears the required fruits.
