Accra Brewery Limited (ABL), producers of the cassava beer, Eagle Lager, has presented equipment support for winners of the National Best Cassava Farmer and the Regional Best Cassava Farmers for the Volta and Eastern Regions.

The donation of a power tiller and two motor carts are valued at approximately GHC 27, 000. This follows an initial donation of 240 cases of assorted drinks by ABL in September 2013, to refresh award winners of this year’s Farmers Day celebrations. The latest package to support cassava farmers include 70 cases of Eagle Lager, ABL’s cassava beer and branded polo shirts.

Additionally, ABL together with its partner, DADTCO Cassava Processing Ghana Limited, would organise special parties for cassava farmers in Kwamanso in the Eastern Region and Kpokpolti in the Volta Region on Friday, 6th December 2013.

“This is a special donation to signify our appreciation of the value we have placed on the cassava famers who since the beginning of this year have been supplying us with the cassava for our latest brand, Eagle Lager”, said ABL Supply Chain Director, Mr Richard Edzeame.

He noted, “Our Company, through research and valued support from SAB Miller Plc. and the government of Ghana, launched the Eagle Lager, which uses 70% of Ghanaian Cassava purchased through our partners DADTCO Cassava Processing Ghana Limited, this year.”

According to Mr Edzeame, “The Eagle lager initiative has created what we call a “virtuouscycle” - consumers can afford consistently high quality beer; our smallholder cassava farmers have a guaranteed market for their crop; and the government realises increased revenues as people trade up into formal, taxable alcohol consumption. We are most grateful to the Government for their foresight in recognising the enormous socio-economic potential of this initiative.”

ABL’s decision to introduce local brands produced with mainly local materials such as the Eagle Lager Beer and Chibuku Shake Shake, is ample proof of SABMiller’s track record of using local raw materials in many of the markets where it operates. The idea is to support local agriculture.

“It is worthy to mention that the World Economic Forum's New Vision for Agriculture, of which SAB Miller is a member, builds collaboration to help agriculture become a driver of food security, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity. We at Accra Brewery will do more if the conditions are right,” Mr Edzeame stressed.

The two deputies of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Hannah Bissiw and Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan received the items on behalf of the farmers. They expressed their sincere gratitude towards the gesture stating that this year’s donations have seen a tremendous improvement from previous years.

But Dr Bissiw said the Ministry would still be glad to receive more items from corporate Ghana. “We believe that this would go a long way to greatly facilitate the work of our famers and ultimately translate into improved yields, and make farming more attractive to many people. Our economy stands to gain.”