By: Austin Ofori Addo
The minority leader in parliament who doubles as Member of Parliament for the Suame constituency in Kumasi in the Ashanti region, hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has categorically asked Ghanaians to condemn government’s attitude towards agriculture in the country which he says is most unacceptable, adding that Ghanaians must speak against the development.
According to the astute politician, agriculture is not doing well in the country under the NDC government, insisting that its development is rather in the negative. This according to him is due to the insufficient budgetary allocation for the agriculture sector by the government.
Honorable Kyei Mensah Bonsu said African States have agreed to invest into agriculture to feed its people through processing but our government has not lived up to this.
The minority leader added that African States agreed to commit 10% of their budget to support agriculture but it’s not so on the side of the Ghanaian government. He noted that agriculture was important to the development of any country and generates employment for the youth.
He said investment in agriculture makes the sector very attractive which has the potential of luring more students into agriculture study in the universities as well as draw more young people into the farming sector.
He said if this is not done and the sector keeps retrogressing, it will not even attract Senior High School graduates or basic students into agriculture.
Citing an example to buttress his point, honourable Osei Mensah Bonsu pointed out that tomato farmers did not even have a tomato processing company and wondered how this can attract more persons.
Source: ritefmonline.org
