About 40 acres of land has been set aside by traditional authorities in Amansie West district of the Ashanti Region for proposed factories.
Starch and gari factories have been targeted as part of government’s district industrialization drive.
Communities in the area, which predominantly engage in mining activities, critically need alternative livelihood programs as small-scale mining has been banned.
The traditional authorities say government’s promise to support district industrialization with $100 million provides for funding for the proposed starch and gari factories.
District Chief Executive, William Asare Bediako, who himself has a starch company is optimistic about the initiative.
“I realized that the starch is even lucrative than gold if we really want to do it properly. In our district, when investors come, they will have very fertile lands for the cassava planting,” he said.
He adds: “We must inject so much money into [the industrialization drive] to recoup enough benefits and that is what we wanted the people to understand”.
The district assembly and the Member of Parliament for the area have been meeting with traditional authorities and other stakeholders in a town hall meeting to discuss ways to develop the district.
Meanwhile, the leadership of various farmer cooperative unions in the district are collaborating with authorities on how to get raw materials for the two factories.
Mr. Asare Bediako tells LUV Biz the involvement of the cooperative societies from the onset is key to a successful and sustainable project implementation.
“The cooperative societies have assured us that they have told their members and they have already embraced it because they see the opportunities in it.
“If a big company comes here, it will mean we will have to get raw materials from outside the district but once they have decided to provide the raw materials to feed the factories, it solves one of the challenges,” he said.
