News:
December 9, 2019
Minister for the Western Region Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah is advocating for the nurturing of agriculture champions in Ghana as part of this year’s farmers day celebration on the theme: “Enhancing small scale agriculture towards agribusiness development”.
According to Okyere Darko-Mensah the big farms in Ghana are not owned by Ghanaians rather investments come from outside the country and profit’s made are sent outside the country.
He further called on the sector Ministry to identify Ghanaians with potentials and give them money so that they can invest in the agriculture sector, and gave an example of Bensu Oil Plantation not own by a Ghanaian.
This was when he contributed to a statement made on the floor of the House by the Minister for Food and Agriculture Dr. Akoto Afriyie to commemorate this year’s farmers day.
“Western Region is noted for its massive contribution to agriculture production, we produce ninety-eight (98) percent of rubber, fifty (50) percent cocoa, fish sixty (60) percent, palm fruit thirty-five percent (35) percent and coconut we are doing eighty-five (85) percent”.
He pointed out to the House that the Western Region put forward a decision as part of the Planting for Export and Rural Development initiative to be assisted with additional five million coconuts seedlings to be planted in area, which they estimated would give them four hundred thousand dollars per year, and they are looking at embarking on this exercise for the next three years.
“Our coconut is special, every forty-five minute there is a truck loading coconut to Nigeria, why can’t we process our coconut before exporting?”
And lamented over the practice where any time farmers are talked about people turn to look at them as poor people and called for a new way of engaging farmers so that they would look more profitable and attract young men and women.
“The youth have more energy and would be able to channel their youthful exuberance, and needed resources for the needed profit to stay in the country”.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com