Founder and Managing Director of Kete-Krachi Farms Limited, Theodore Ocansey, has hinted of far advanced plans to re-operationalize the project which was put on hold at the initial stages in March 2020.
The project stalled after some aggrieved residents of the area attacked the farm and prevented the tractors from working and consequently destroying over twenty five thousand cashew seedlings which were at the stage of transplanting. Forty bags of Soybean seeds were also not planted and are now impotent, costing the company about GHC 500,000 in losses.
The incident started as the agrieved residents believed the land leased to Kete-Krachi Farms should have been in a different location.
“We had great plans to build a cashew processing factory in this enclave which will process cashew nuts for export by 2022 as well as cashew apple juice for local consumption-this initiative we had hoped would empower the youth of the area in agriculture and agribusiness and drastically reduce rural-urban migration but all of these were dashed as a result of that unfortunate incident,” Ocansey lamented.
“We are however keeping hope alive and believing in the almighty that soon our operations will start again,” he added.
Kete-Krachi Farms Ltd – a cashew oriented farm that uses the nucleus estate model of crop cultivation, was incorporated in 2016. The company concluded its Lease Agreement in 2018 which it had been negotiating with the chiefs and people of the area since 2014.
It notified the community through Kaakye FM in 2019 of commencement of the project but could not work in 2019. In March 2020 the project commenced with the nursery which developed 25,500 seedlings.
In May 2020, it was ready for land preparation and it was around that time that the company suffered its first setback when it was initially prevented from working.
In July 2020, the farm obtained an order from the Hohoe High Court permitting its opponents to work on 110 acres and allowed the farm to cultivate the remaining 890 acres. The company proceeded to the land with tractors to start preparing the land and that was when it was attacked.
The farm is located in the prestigious town of Kete-Krachi in the Krachi West District of the Oti region. It is specifically located 9kilometers North-East of Kete-Krachi township and West of the Volta River. Geographically, the farm’s boundaries run through four communities, namely, Abujaro, Akura, Jaayo and Gyerentor. It measures approximately 500 hectares with a planting density of about 100 trees per hectare.
By Nelson Ayivor || ghananewsonline.com.gh