Female farmers in Agogo in the Asante Akyem Central District of the Ashanti Region cannot transport their produce to market centres without hired male escorts.

The situation has arisen from growing incidence of alleged rape and other atrocities visited on natives by the Fulani herdsmen in the area.

Daring men charge averagely 200 Ghana cedis to escort a truck load of plantain and other produce from framing communities to market centers.

Productivity is dwindling as a result, with many people giving up the vocation in a predominantly agricultural community.

Farmers in the area have the capacity to cultivate and harvest between 50 and 70 trucks of plantain every week.

Women, especially, are however quitting the occupation because of the Fulani menace.

Despite a court order to evict the Fulanis, the protracted rift has persisted, and natives say it is becoming worse than before.

Fifty percent of what is produced currently goes waste because of the situation coupled with lack of storage facilities.

Some say they are ambushed and the farm produce they carry on their heads for sale at the various markets seized while others are raped.

To stay in business some women have had to incur extra cost by hiring male escorts to protect them.

These farmers told Luv News they have run out of options.

One of the affected persons, Antie Ama revealed most of her colleagues have stopped farming and trading.

“They destroy our farms. Even the little farm produce we cultivate, we find it difficult to market them.

“Because these fulanis ambush us almost always and take away our money and rape some of us. As a result we hire men and pay them huge sums of money to escort us so to avoid this horror," she said.

She continued that, sometimes the men are even afraid because the fulanis have guns and they been killing them.

“We are afraid and our only source of livelihood is being affected. Government should do something about this”, she said.

Meanwhile, Police in the Ashanti Region are taking steps to resolve the menace in the area.

Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kofi Boakye, and his lieutenants are exploring ways to bring sanity to the area.

Command officers on Thursday embarked on a trip to Agogo where they held separate meetings with natives, led by the traditional authority and leaders of the Fulanis.

Regional Deputy Police Commander, ACP Ampofo Duku explained that it is important for the two to understand each other and abide by ethics of peaceful coexistence.

“Information reaching us indicates there has been series of attacks resulting in deaths of both Fulanis and Agogo residents in Agogo and its environs.

“Farmers therefore feel threatened by these Fulanis”, he revealed.

ACP Duku emphatically stated that this practice is not acceptable. He expects them to exercise restraint and report cases than take the law into their own hands.

We will speak to both parties so anybody found culpable will be dealt with by the police, he added.

Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kofi Boakye indicated the command will hold discussion with the Regional Security Council to try and find possible solution to the problem.

Krontihene of Agogo, Nana Kwame Nti, and his people want the Fulanis completely out of the area.