Bolgatanga, July 28, GNA – Dr Roger Kanton, the Upper East Regional Co-ordinator of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), has called on Government to give the agriculture industry the needed support.
This, he said would make the sector vibrant to effectively serve its purpose.
He said even though agriculture had a good potential to sufficiently feed the people of Ghana and earn income from the export of the many products that could be produced in the country, it was being under exploited and given little attention.
Dr Kanton said this at a Research, Extension and Farmer Linkage Committee (RELC) planning session in Bolgatanga to review last year’s activities and to plan for this year.
It attracted Agricultural Researchers, Agricultural Officers and farmers.
He said the RELC was initiated from 1992 and 1993 and had proven by all standards to be the best way to support agriculture in Ghana, “Unfortunately, funding has been problematic, we always depend on donors,” he said.
He said the RELC could transform the country’s agricultural production and appealed to the government to fund the sector, saying it was not appropriate to montage the livelihood of Ghanaians to external donors.
The Research fellow suggested the establishment of a Ghana Agricultural Services Division, similar to the Ghana Health Services (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES), devoid of political interference.
“So I am calling on Ghanaian agriculturalists, and it should be championed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) Directorates and the Chief Director of MOFA, to let us have a purely technical wing of MOFA called Ghana Agricultural Services Division that should be devoid of any political interference so that when projects come, they will run them,” he said.
According to him, such an establishment would churn out technical people to man the affairs of the sector with technical and policy support from the MOFA.
Reverend John Manu, Regional Director of Agriculture said the RELC was a vital activity in the programmes of MOFA and the Department of Agriculture, as its inception had brought solutions to some researchable issues farmers faced.
He said gone were the days when researchers would come out with research findings and leave them on the shelves to gather dust.
“This platform is strengthening the linkage between researchers, extension officers and farmers, and had also granted stakeholders an opportunity to present issues pertaining to the development of the agricultural sector thus enhancing food production and productivity,” he said.
Reverend Manu, who is also the Chairman of the RELC, appreciated the support of Canada for the Modernisation of Agriculture in Ghana programme that had revived the RELC and the agricultural sector.
GNA
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