Thirty-six Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the Akatsi North District have benefited from distribution of assorted items to empower them to become economically self-reliant.
The items, included industrial sewing machines, refrigerators, chest freezers, laptops, industrial knitting and overlock machines, movable cassava mills, motorcycles, barbering tools, printing machines and farm inputs worth over ¢100,000.00.
Chairman, Akatsi North Disability Fund Management Committee, Mr. Godwin Gordon Gomado said the 36 persons were the fourth batch of beneficiaries saying about 130 PWDs had so far benefitted from the distribution.
He explained that the process to identify persons for the support included; going round to sensitize them on their needs, taking in applications for vetting before recommending items to be procured by the three percent allocation from the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).
Secretary, Ave-Dakpa Disability Group and beneficiary, Mr. Saviour Xorlali Doamekpor was grateful to the Assembly for the support saying, the printing equipment he received would help him, a graphic designer a great deal.
Mr. Doamekpor called on other beneficiaries to use the items for the intended purposes for only that would prevent them from begging for alms on the streets to make a living. He appealed to the Assembly to take steps to extend the support to the remaining PWDs numbering about 270 to benefit from the scheme.
District Chief Executive of Akatsi North, Dr. Prince Sodoke Amuzu speaking at the joint Disability Fund disbursement and 36th Farmers’ Day celebration, touted the Akufo-Addo administration for implementing social program to directly impact lives of thousands of Ghanaians and said it was important the government was retained to do more.
He mentioned government’s increase of the Disability Fund from two to three percent of the DACF, aimed at making more resources available to support PWDs with whatever they requested to enable them enjoy decent livelihood.
He said government’s flagship program of Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) saw 4,089 farmers in the district benefit from subsidized fertilizers and improved planting materials, while 2,000 farmers were registered to benefit from free distribution of coconut, palm and cashew seedlings under the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) among others.
District Agriculture Director, Mr. Mawuli Abusah said the theme for the 2020 celebration “Ensuring Agribusiness Development under COVID-19 –Opportunities and Challenges” called for the need to morph the challenges of the pandemic into opportunities to develop agribusiness in the agrarian district.
He said there were untapped potentials like vast arable lands, dams and dugouts that needed harnessing to make the district the food basket of Ghana and called for mechanization, crop diversification and value addition to solve the problems of relying on manual labor, poor market for some produce and post-harvest losses respectively.
In the nine awards given to honor farmers and a farmer-based organization for their invaluable contribution to keeping the nation’s food baskets safe, Mr. Samuel Gah emerged the District Best Farmer and received agricultural items.
