The agriculture sector over the years have received commentaries on its potential on turning Ghana’s economy around for good with the right investments and implementation.
As part a reset agenda by the new government, President John Dramani Mahama has announced that his government will industrialise the agricultural sector to attract the youth to venture into the sector.
According to him, his government will prioritise value addition on agricultural products, processing and export, which will position the sector as profitable and appealing to young people in the country.
“We will implement an agric programme to facilitate access to land banks by young farmers to connect young graduates to opportunities in the agriculture value chain and promote greenhouse farming among the youth, which will benefit approximately 30,000 young people. ” President Mahama made these remarks during his State of the Nation Address at Parliament House in Accra.
President Mahama, hammering on cutting down importation of food said his government has plans to revive the livestock sector by restocking breeding farms with pigs, cattle, sheep and goats to increase local livestock production, which will create jobs and improve self sufficiency.
On the topic of access to mechanisation and quality seeds and extension services for farmers, President Mahama opined that, his government will establish it’s flagship farmer’s service centres in every agricultural district across the country to ensure that,” farmers receive essential farming mechanisation services and resources to improve their productivity and efficiency”.
“In the fisheries sector, we will continue to enforce measures to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing which threatens our marine and biodiversity and the livelihoods of our hardworking fisherfolk “, President Mahama added.
Reporting by Stephen Freema, Accra.
