The 2009 National Best Farmer and Chairman of the National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association of Ghana, NFFAWAG, Mr. Davies Narh Korboe has bemoaned the culture of exporting most of the country’s agic products in its raw form and no value addition.
According to him, this has led to low incomes for farmers and their dependents with its consequent effects on the economy vis-a -vis youth unemployment, rural urban migration and low agriculture export earnings.
He made the lamentation when the Hungarian Embassy of Ghana in collaboration with stakeholders in the agricultural sector of Ghana held the first agricultural forum at the Hungarian Embassy in Accra. The purpose of the forum was aimed at strengthening ties on how the Hungarian Government can collaborate with the Ghanaian Agricultural sector for an improvement in the area.
The Chairman for the Awardees said his outfit was committed to value addition in all agriculture value chain and will be glad to partner Hungary’s investors in this area to ensure higher incomes to farmers in the country.
Mr. Korboe was also of the view that rural infrastructure was key to the success of the agric sector. “Rural infrastructure is very key for the success of agriculture in Ghana,” he emphasized.
He made references to other countries like Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh that demonstrate the power of rural infrastructure such as roads, irrigation, warehouse and electricity to improve growth and reduce poverty.
The NFFAWAG chair also observed that post-harvest losses continued to pose a major threat to the modernization of Ghana’s agric sector.
“High post-harvest losses have been identified over the years as the major challenge to modernization of Ghana’s agriculture and a major threat to food security in the country,” he lamented.
The 2009 National Best Farmer also emphasized that “in Ghana, reliance on rain fed agriculture is overwhelming and development of irrigation facilities will be a big boost.”
He therefore assured the Hungarian government of great potentials in the agricultural sector in Ghana but stressed that, government cannot do it alone unless with the support and collaboration of the private sector and countries such as Hungary.
He thereby proposed the formation of a Ghana- Hungary Agricultural Chamber to share various ideas and collaborations on farming and value addition.
Source: Joyce Bedeley/ritefmonline.org/jbedeley9357@gmail.com
