The amount is expected to improve the company’s working capital for raw material aggregation, construct silos, expand warehouses, enrol more farmers, employ more youth in the Municipality, buy planters, shellers and construct irrigation facilities among others.

Mr. Eric Dankwa Kissi, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the KEDAN Limited, disclosed this during the commissioning of a new maize processing factory in Tumu in Upper West Region.

The installation of the factory means that farmers there would now be assured of a reliable market source for more than 7000 metric tons of their maize produce each year. But, Mr Kissi raised concerns that access to credit and finance for upstream and downstream agriculture in Ghana remained a major challenge.

“It is never available and if available at all, it is at harsh conditions and at a high interest rate that can end up collapsing your business and making you highly indebted to the banks,” he said. He noted that his company together with other businesses in Ghana needed funding options that would be flexible, realistic with relatively low interest rates and good terms to enable them expand and create more job opportunities for the people.

He appealed to government to tar the Tumu-Bolgatanga road and Tumu-Wa roads to facilitate economic activities and attract investments. The government was also urged to provide ready market for products from the factory by signing on the company to supply the Ghana School Feeding Programme and the buffer stock.

Consumers described products from the new factory as neat while managers said they were produced under strict hygienic conditions. They asked government to also create the enabling environment that would attract entrepreneurs to set up viable business ventures to create more employment and reduce the burden on government.

Mr. Ridwan Abass Dauda, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Sissala East Constituency, noted that maize was the main raw material for the plant but the processing of foods and animal feed for value addition was commendable.

Maize production in Ghana, especially in the Sissala East Municipality had doubled as a result of government’s support to farmers with subsidised fertilizer and improved seeds under its flagship programme “Planting for Food and Jobs”.

The MP appealed to management of the plant to consider the production of animal feed for the poultry industry. Some investors in the Municipality have ventured into the poultry sub-sector but operating in limited scale possibly, which he identified as animal feed supply problem.

He urged the people to maintain peace since no investor would desire to establish a factory in an environment where people resort to violence as a means of solving their differences. KEDAN Limited established the factory with support from West Africa Food Market through the Competitive Challenge Fund competition.