Forty Participants on Thursday in Bunsu CSIR-PGRRI benefitted from a training aimed at equipping young people with skills and knowledge in snail farming to improve their livelihood and boost snail production. They included staff of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Agricultural Extension Agents and farmers.
It was jointly organised by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research as part of the Modernising Agriculture in Ghana with funds from the Canadian government and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Speaking at the gathering the Deputy Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Professor Paul Bosu said the initiative was to equip selected individuals with basic snail farming technologies.
Prof Bosu said snail rearing was a lucrative business because they were seasonal creatures which had no end and that the only way to ensure its sustainability was to encourage its rearing.
He pointed out that apart from using snails for food, it also had medicinal value.
The Deputy Director-General said the Council was poised to enable the average Ghanaian embrace and appreciate what science could do to turn fortunes round.
The Council, he said, would not relegate to the background its core values but would enforce them to the benefit of all and sundry in Ghana
“Our dream is to develop capacities and partnerships, because the knowledge we produce enables governments, partners and boundary partners to make informed decision toward development” he stated.
Prof Bosu said due to the high nutritional value of snail they were attracting high patronage and therefore the need to help farmers to expand their farms to increase production and to also target the international market.
“It is no longer viable to be glued to the outmoded methods of farming and that was why CSIR and partners would collaborate to support young farmers with new technologies to get high returns on investment” he added.
Kwame Sarfo Bonsu, Chief Technical Officer CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana in his presentation called for an increase in snail farming to make up for the shortage in its supply in recent times.
He explained that the high consumption of snails served as a major farming activity to boost the nation’s protein supply and also serve as a disincentive for setting bushfires in order to conserve the region’s natural vegetation.
Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh