By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Aug. 3, GNA — Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the road sector contributed to the challenges facing the agriculture sector and announced government’s plans to spend one billion dollars to construct critical roads nationwide.
The move, he said, would connect roads to agriculture producing areas across the country to facilitate easy transportation of goods and people.
The programme falls under the Sinohydro Corporation Financing Facility to ensure transportation of agriculture produce to the market centres to halt the perennial post-harvest losses.
The programme, he said, was at the heart of the “Akufo-Addo’s Plan for Economic Transformation” aimed at improving agricultural productivity.
Vice President Bawumia, speaking at the launch of the 34th edition of the National Farmers’ Day in Accra, on Friday, said there would be massive industrialisation and commercialisation drive by the government to stimulate agricultural investment to bolster production.
“Agriculture-Moving Ghana beyond Aid” is the theme chosen for this year’s farmers’ day celebration, which would be held in the Northern Regional Capital of Tamale in the first week of December,
The launch attracted key stakeholders in the agriculture sector including; Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, the Diplomatic Community, Development partners, sponsors of the event, directors and mangers of the sector ministries, as well as representatives of farmers and fishers.
Dr Bawumia said the government under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, through his vision of modernising and transforming agriculture, introduced a number of reforms last year, to improve the organisation of the celebration to give meaning to the occasion.
To that end, he said, a cash donation equivalent to US$100,000 would be presented to the best national farmer, to enable him or her to expand the agricultural business.
“The Ghana beyond Aid” espoused by President Nana Addo, the Vice President said called for action, and that the sector minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, had been charged to coordinate strategies of the 254 metropolitan, Municipal and district assemblies of their contribution towards the realisation of the vision.
Dr Bawumia said the agenda required quantitative and qualitative change in all aspects of the lives of Ghanaians, which required structural change in the national economy, especially the agricultural sector, macroeconomic stability, infrastructure development, digitisation and value-addition based economy, as well as a vibrant private sector, skilled-trained human resource and attitudinal change.
The aforementioned fundamentals, he said, were critical for the transformation and modernisation of the agricultural sector for economic growth.
He said agriculture was a key component of the Ghanaian economy, noting that, in 2017 the sector contributed 18.7 of the gross domestic product and recorded 8.4 per cent growth from less than four per cent recorded over the past decade.
Vice President Bawumia noted that the agricultural sector, which constituted about 46 per cent of the active population of the nation had been bedevilled with low productivity arising from low adoption of technologies such as improved seeds, fertilizers, poor infrastructure and lack of access to market, as well as high post-harvest losses.
According to the Malabo Declaration, agriculture was expected to grow by six per cent annually to impact significantly for sustainable development.
Vice President Bawumia, therefore, pledged government’s commitment to pursue well-formulated agriculture policies tailored to meet the needs of the sector to ensure optimum performance for expected benefit to the citizenry.
To that end, he said, the roll-out of the government policy -“Planting for Food and Jobs” was a practical demonstration of the government to revamp the agricultural sector to catalyse national development.
According to Dr Bawumia, since the implementation of the policy in 2017, it had given the sector a decisive impulse and ignited hope in the agriculture sector again.
He noted that evaluation of the programme showed that, significant progress had been made in meeting the objectives of the programme to ensure adequate availability of food and feed, provide job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth, increased productivity of the selected crops including maize, soya beans, sorghum, and vegetables.
The introduction of the policy, the Vice President said had created job opportunities for about 745,000 people and improved extension service delivery, greater seed production, access to the market and revitalisation of the National Buffer Stock Company.
“This achievement has strengthened the conviction of government to advance the agenda of investing in agriculture as a basis propelling Ghana’s economy to prosperity,” he added.
In view of the gains made so far, government had targeted 500,000 beneficiaries this year as against 200,000 in 2017 for support, and added other crops such as groundnut and cassava, and vegetables such as carrots, lettuce, cucumber and cabbage under the programme.
He said the 50 per cent fertilizer subsidy rolled-out last year would continue this year, adding that, government had started irrigation programme where 570 dams would be constructed under the “One Village, One-Dam” by the end of 2019 to bolster agriculture production.
GNA
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