By Prince Paul Amuzu:
The former Deputy Minister of Agric during the immediate past Mahama led administration, Mr. Alhasan Yakubu has sharply disagreed with the current minister of Agric, honourable Afriyie Akoto’s assertions that the agricultural sector is in a bad state and its contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is irrelevant.
Speaking in an interview with Rite News in reaction to the claims, Mr. Alhassan mentioned that certain sectors under his watch saw massive improvements.
‘I totally disagree with him because under my watch and during my administration, the production of rice doubled and same can be said of other certain food stuffs which has significantly affected the rate of rice importation and other food stuffs. Even though the rate of growth is low, it is far far better than during the previous NPP government led by John Agyekun Kuffour,’ he claimed.
According to him, he was not expecting anything different from what the current minister or President Akuffo Addo said during his State of the Nation Address (SONA). To him, as political opponents, ‘they cannot praise the NDC government for the good work done. They can only run on the back of critising to score political points.’
‘The truth of the matter is that there are confusing arguments about the contribution of agriculture to GDP. The agricultural sector’s contribution to GDP must constantly be reducing because as your economy matures into industries and manufacturing, agriculture becomes the base sector to supply raw materials,’ Mr. Alhassan noted.
Source: ritefmonline.org
