Three factories established in the Akuapem North Municipality under the government’s signature One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme, have begun operations, Mr. Dennis Aboagye, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has announced.
These are into coffee production, poultry farming and palm oil extraction.
The Asili Coffee Factory at Akropong has been producing three tons of bagged coffee for both the local and international market, every month.
It currently employs 37 people and has the capacity to provide employment for over 500 people.
Mr. Aboagye told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the poultry farm – Akro Farms, sited at Apasare, is fully automated.
It now has 40,000 birds and would start producing 1,200 crates of eggs daily by next month (December).
The Management of the farms has projected to substantially increase the number of birds to about 200,000, to raise the daily egg production to 50,000 crates.
The MCE said the Palm Oil Factory, built at Yensiso, was currently producing one ton of palm oil, every hour, for the local market.
To ensure that there was adequate raw material to feed it, 65,000 oil palm seedlings had been supplied to 460 farmers in the area.
The MCE said this was done under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative.
He added that the government’s industrialization drive to create jobs for the people and bring down poverty was on course.
He said the establishment of the factories had given a boost to the local economy – jobs to the young people and ready market for farmers.
The Municipal Assembly had signed an agreement with the factory operators that enjoined them to source their raw materials from the local farmers.
Mr. Aboagye said this had led to huge farmer-interest in the PFJ as more of them registered to benefit from the supply of improved planting materials to increase their production levels and income.
He indicated that four additional factories could be ready by the close of the year.