Farmers and farmers groups have been advised to be concern about the quality of their produce if the country is to succeed in its efforts to increase agricultural export.
The advice was given by Mr Gabriel Owusu, Deputy Director of Agricultural Extension at a training and validation workshop for members of farmer based organisations(FBOs) from Greater Accra, Central and Eastern Regions in Koforidua.
The workshop was aimed at building the capacity of Apex Farmer-Based Organisations to improve upon their organisational development and skills in managing the associations under them to help improve their bargaining power and competitiveness.
The workshop is being organised by Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Extension Directorate with funding from Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA) Market Access Policy Node(MPAN).
Mr Owusu explained that, due to health reasons, many people in and outside Ghana have become more concern about the quality of the food they eat and the agricultural practices under which they are produced.
He called on farmer groups to organise themselves so that they could produce to meet the high demand of foreign markets.
Mr Kweku Boateng, a member of the AGRA MPAN team , called on the participants to offer new ideas that would make the training modules for farmers effective when it comes to the validation of the modules.
He called on other stakeholders to join and support the efforts of AGRA MPAN to improve the marketing of agricultural produce in the country.
Mr Samuel Allotey, Eastern Regional Agricultural Extension Officer observed that, the FBOs are very dynamic and keep changing in various forms and the leaders need to know and plan their role in the changing trends.
The Regional Director of Agriculture, Dr Frederick Gyebi-Twum called on the participants to take the workshop serious to enable them acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to provide the needed leadership for the development of their organisations.
Source: GNA
