Farming is a very rugged occupation associated with many hazards including attacks by reptiles, chips and sticks hitting the eyes, cutlass injuries, bacteria and germ infection among others.
Ideally, farmers need to have protective working gears to mitigate and protect them from these hazards, however, the opposite is the current state of affairs in Ghana
The unhygienic-conditioned clothes donned repeatedly by farmers according to research, is a threat to their health as it could be breeding grounds for bacterial and germ infections.
Whereas the dirty clothes also deepen the negative perception about the occupation as a dirty venture, limited government support among others discourage many youths from engaging in farming.
Heached International, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in collaboration with Mosites Construction Company in Pittsburgh has, therefore, decided to supply hundreds of farmers and school children in eight rural communities in Ghana with a container shipment of bales of used clothes and footwear.
The beneficiary farming communities for this year’s exercise include Manso Atwere in the Ashanti Region, Tumu in the Upper West Region and Anum Apapam, Atwemamena, Aboabo, Pechi and Abokobi all in the Eastern Region— each receiving 20 to 40 bales of farm clothing and footwear for farming
The Chief Executive Officer of Heached International, Mr Ernest Anguah at short a presentations to the various beneficiary communities commended farmers for their immense contribution to the development of Ghana despite many living in impoverished conditions, lacking access to basic social amenities.
Mr Anguah advised the farmers to form corporative groups to enable them to get financial and technical support to modernize their farming.
He said globally, agriculture is driven by technology, therefore, it is important Ghana tilts to the path of modernizing Agriculture to enable the country to harness the full potential of its arable lands.
Leaders of the beneficiary communities commended Heached International for the initiative describing it as an encouragement to their work.
The donation of used clothes and footwear to farmers by Heached International started four years ago.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah