News:
December 1, 2022
Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has told Parliament the Eastern Region will host the National Farmers Day celebration on the theme, “Accelerating Agricultural Development Through Value Addition”.
According to him pursuant to Public Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601), this year’s National Farmers’ Day, the 38th edition, falls on Friday, 2nd December, 2022.
In a statement on the floor of the House he noted that, preparations are feverishly underway to ensure a memorable and successful occasion the choice of the Eastern Region was based on a long-standing rotational principle for determining the venue of National Farmers’ Day celebrations in the country.
The theme aligns with government’s vision of modernizing and transforming agriculture, relevant objectives of the President’s Coordinated Programme of Socio-economic Development Policies, and the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goals one(1) and two (2) which advocate the eradication of extreme Poverty in all forms and Zero Hunger respectively.
Mr. Speaker, the strategic intervention and the success of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFI) campaign, speaks clearly to government’s relentless efforts of systematically addressing the long- standing problems of Ghana’s agriculture, he said.
The Horticultural sub-sector now has three new Greenhouse centres located at Dawhenya, Bodwiase and Akomadan in the Greater Accra, Central and Ashanti Regions respectively.
Others include the construction and rehabilitation of major irrigation schemes, feeder roads and 80(1000mt tons capacity) warehouses constructed throughout the country.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie told the House in 2019 the agriculture sector grew by 4.7% followed by 7.4% in 2020 and a record 8.4% in 2021. With the excellent rains this year we expect the substantial growth performance of recent years to be repeated this year 2022.
Whiles, the strongest growth in recent years have increased the share of agriculture sector in Ghana’s GDP from 18% in 2016 to 22% by 2021. These impressive results were posted by the sector against all odds, when multiple external shocks and unfavourable external global conditions had impacted virtually every economy including Ghana.
Supply chains had been badly disrupted resulting in acute shortage in critical inputs like fertilizers, the Animal sector which had been badly hit by diseases such as swine flu and the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, while farmlands were also being destroyed by galamsey activities, he stated.
“Mr. Speaker, we in government recognize that the impressive performance of the agricultural sector is largely due to sacrifices and the tireless efforts of our heroic farmers. As a people, the least we can do therefore is to continue to celebrate and reward our farmers with rising farm productivity and incomes”.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com