About 300 acres of farmlands have been destroyed by a herd of elephants at Assin Nsabaah in the Assin South District of the Central Region.
The affected farmers told Rainbow Radio’s Oheneba Ambrose that the invasion of the elephants had been an annual occurrence.
Residents told him that the elephants migrate from their habitation in the forest reserve in the area to consume farm produce and destroy them just as the farmers are about to harvest them.
”This time around, the numbers and the devastation caused is huge,” one of the affected farmers said.
The crops mainly affected were maize, rice, groundnut, millet plantain, among others.
The invasion affected many farmers in the town, another farmer who was in near tears said.
The farmers appealed to the government and other benevolent organisations, to as a matter of urgency, support them with food and other livelihood items.
They stressed that since the elephants’ invasion in farms had become an occurrence, the Ghana Forestry Commission of Game and Wildlife must help find a permanent solution.
Some of the affected farmers in the area expressed their disappointment over the invasion and called on the authorities concerned to address the issue urgently since it has affected their livelihoods.
They added that now that their crops have been destroyed, they are wondering what they will eat between now and the dry season; more so, these are the farm produce they intended to sell to earn incomes for the dry season farming and solve the needs of their families.
By: Rainbowradioonline/Ghana