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Some Farmers in the Yilo Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region have abandoned farming and taken to bead making due to harvest losses as a result of poor road network.

Farming communities such as Kokofu, Wrekonya, Dorguanor and Tsremati Yoyim, all located in the Yilo Krobo municipality, are known to be the food basket of the municipality, but there is no road network linking the communities to the market centres, hence farm produce such as vegetables, cassava, plantain and cash crops such as cocoa are left to rot in the bush.

Farmers are compelled to carry, on their heads, farm produce through the bushes to market centres to sell at cheap prices.

The phenomenon is discouraging farmers in the communities from engaging in farming, forcing many to migrate to urban centres in search of alternate jobs.

Others who chose to stay have veered into bead making to make ends meet.

Tetteh Kofi, the Chief of Tsremati Yoyim, told the Daily Heritage that his family had virtually ditched farming for bead making due to lack of road network in the area for which they could not transport the farm produce to the marketing centres.

He said the absence of roads to adjoining communities affect access to basic needs such as healthcare of farmers.

He said several promises made by the previous government to construct roads in the communities were not fulfilled.

Mr Samuel Ofosu, 2015 Best Municipal Cocoa Farmer, told the DAILY HERITAGE in an interview that the area has very fertile land for all types of crops, but the absence of a road network had created a hostile environment for the youth to engage in agriculture to produce more food for the country.