The town, which is located in the Okere District in the Eastern Region, is mainly agrarian with most of the farmers on small holdings.

Officials of the Hunger Project, led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Global President, Ms Suzanne Frindt, led a delegation on a familiarisation tour to the Akode Epicentre to acquaint herself with the progress of the mango plantation.

According to Ms Frindt, the mango farm project would empower the beneficiaries to generate income to support themselves and their dependents.

She encouraged the people to take the opportunity accorded them to improve their standard of living.

Akode Epicentre

The Leader of the Akode Epicentre, Mr George Anane, commended the Hunger Project which, he said, had since 2012 assisted them in diverse ways, thus improving their economic wellbeing.

He mentioned some of the support by the Hunger Project as the provision of $31,000, which was disbursed to a number of people to operate their businesses and farms, last year.

Mr Anane further stated that through the Hunger Project, the town now had a clinic providing antenatal, post-natal, child welfare, family planning and deliveries, as well as an outpatient department with two nurses.

He said all those facilities were contained in the Epicentre which started with five communities, namely Akode Number One and Two, Togorme, Holokpui and Apetorkope all with a population of about 2,494, adding that another community, Kwamanteng, had also joined the group.

"The Epicentre has also empowered women, improved food security, health and nutrition, literacy and education, microfinance and livelihood and partnership building, as well as addressing child marriage and its related challenges in the rural communities," he added.

Mr Anane appealed to the Hunger Project to sustain its support since it had gone a long way to improve the standard of living of the people.

Girl-child

The Ghana Country Director of the Hunger Project, Mr Samuel Afrane, reiterated the importance of educating the girls to enable them to realise their fullest potential in future.

He said the Hunger Project promoted women empowerment as the key to socio-economic development, and admonished parents and guardians in the project’s areas of operation to send their female children and wards to school to secure their future.