Communities in Zorko-Kanga in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region have begun cultivating rice under the block farming system introduced by the government.
Mr. Alexis Ayamdor, Assembly man for Zorko-Kanga Electoral Area, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the said 40 people made up of men, women and the youth were cultivating 100 acres of rice this crop season.
He said under the block farming system, government was providing tractor services to communities for land preparation, improved seedlings, fertilizers and technical support through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
He said he initiated the move for people in his electoral area to go into block farming because it would help alleviate poverty and that majority of them had already cultivated cereal.
Mr Ayamdor commended the government for introducing the system and said prior to that many people in the area could hardly farm even half an acre because they could not afford to buy farm inputs.
He expressed optimism that with the farm inputs and the technical support provided the farmers would improve their yield to be able to cater for their families.
Mr Ayamdor said they would also be provided with capacity building skills to use the farm proceeds to diversify into other businesses like
animal rearing.
"This would help ensure food security for the community and the country as a whole," he added.
He stated that the block farming system would also help curb rural urban migration since many of the people were now engaged in profitable
venture.
Mr Ayamdor said he had been able to lobby for many development projects for his electoral area which include the establishment of semi-detached nurses' quarters from the District Development Fund and this had eased the accommodation problem of nurses and attracted more of them to accept postings to the area.
He appealed to the Ministry of Health to upgrade the health facility in the area into Polyclinic status since the area was the largest sub district in the Bongo District and the community had outstripped the health facility.
The distance from the centre to the District Hospital was 15 Kilometres and 20 Kilometres to the Regional Hospital.
Mr Ayamdor mentioned the construction of classroom blocks, latrines, feeder roads as some of the successes he had chalked since his assumption of office in 2006 to date.
He said the challenges he encountered include the lack of communal spirit for communal labour, politicization of programmes by community
members and the high expectation from his electorates.