Alhaji Ayarna Yakubu, an organic mango farmer who is also into shea-nut exports, has called on the government to intervene in what he called the appalling plight of farmers in the northern regions. Speaking to Citi FM in Accra, the farmer told government to find a way of ensuring that farmers in this part of the country are able to access credit facilities. In most instances, he said, farmers in the northern regions are unable to access these facilities and eventually the facilities are returned to headquarters with the excuse that nobody accessed them. Explaining, he said the conditions attached to the accessing these facilities are just beyond the reach of northern farmers, adding that “there must be a way of making these facilities easily accessible by farmers”. Alhaji Yakubu has 120 acres of organic mango farm in the Northern Region and his demand of the government is that it provides drying facilities for the harvested mangoes and a machine for the production of mango concentrate. He recalled the loss he made through the fall in purchase price of shea nuts and asked for government intervention when this happens. “I bought 31,000 sacks of shea nuts at a cost of GH¢28 per sack but the cost dropped to GH¢24,” he said. Cocoa farmers, he noted, are supported under such circumstances but not so when shea nut dealers are affected by price drops. We must be supported by government, he said, and explained that “the reason why such assistance is denied us is that shea nuts are considered wild fruits”. This is a wrong perception because “even if the nuts are picked in the wild those who do the picking suffer snake bites in the course of their long walk in the bush.” He said shea nut gatherers and dealers need support too so that they can add value to the produce. This way, the migration to Accra by the youth, especially girls, can be stemmed. Alhaji Ayarna recently suffered arson when tons of his shea nuts were torched by unidentified persons in the Northern Region. Source: Daily Guide