Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has disclosed that one of the biggest cotton producers in China, Xing Jiang Shian Yon Group Company Limited, has decided to invest $500 million in cotton farming in the Northern Region.
The minister, who made this known during a durbar organized for District Agric Directors in the Northern Region, said the Chinese company is ready to invest $500 million for period of six years in the Northern Region.
He indicated that the company intends to cultivate 20,000-100,000 hectares of cotton in the region.
The minister said the company has already sent its technical team to the Northern Region to facilitate the investment in the region.
Dr Afriyie hinted that some textiles that would be produced would be exported to China.
“The project will create many jobs for the youth in the Northern Region which will also attract people from the neighboring countries.”
“When the project starts, the young girls who travel to the south to work as ‘Kayayei’ will come back home to work and earn a living through the project.
He assured farmers in the Northern Region that the government would alleviate poverty in the region and the whole country at large by focusing on smallholder farmers who are the poorest in the country.
“The Northern Region has the best potential for food production in Ghana and we want to take full advantage and help mother Ghana,” he disclosed.
Dr. Afriyie said there would be significant provision of farm machinery in Northern Region and Ghana in general.
He expressed happiness about the effective usage of the 1 million bags of fertilizer allocated to farmers in the region.

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