Provision of adequate health services and necessary welfare packages for the well being of farmers, has been identified as necessary impetus to increase production and profit margin in the agriculture sector.

The Head of Cocoa Sustainability, OLAM Nigeria, Mrs. Jeniffer Abuah, who said this at the 2019 Olam Farmers Day, in Akure, Ondo State, to celebrate cocoa farmers and 30th anniversary of the company in Nigeria, said the move would also lead to economic prosperity.

Abuah disclosed that 374 cocoa female farmers and 100 male cocoa farmers were mobilised across the 18 Local Government Areas to participate in the annual event, which started about nine years ago in the state.

There were HIV/malaria, blood pressure, diabetes tests and breast screening for 374 women farmers, health and nutritional counseling that bordered on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) campaign.

She revealed that a new early detection device known as breast Hyde was used to screen the women to get accurate result from the mammogram.

Abuah lamented acute shortage of healthcare facilities in the rural areas where most of the farmers live, identifying ignorance as one of the major problems militating against the farmers and access to healthcare.

“Any chance we have, we get farmers together and we try to bring to them medical personnel so that they have access to medical care, which ordinarily they cannot get. Most cocoa farming communities don’t have access to quality health facilities,” she said.