By Michael Oberteye:
Mr. Paul Koffie, chairman of the past best farmers association of the Asuogyaman district has stated on Tuesday’s ‘Feed the Future Platform’ that modern technologies and the craze for quick cash were the root causes and the major drive factors driving the youth away from agriculture. He said this is largely due to the absence of proper and attractive incentives that would draw young people into the agricultural fold.
The former winner of the Asuogyaman district best farmer told Owuraku Amofa that money was a critical part of farming which is not readily available to would be young farmers. According to him, that aside, young people are so obsessed with quick cash and are therefore not attracted to farming which according to him is a long-term investment which does not yield the desired instant cash. He said for a young man desperate for instant money, this is certainly not an attractive field.
The septuagenarian (70 years old) said gone are the olden days where parents exposed their children to farming or where special ‘farm clubs’ were run in the schools. He said these gave children the opportunity to come to appreciate agric as a credible source of livelihood, adding that fishing could not be a reliable option either as our river bodies were running out of fishes.
On the performance of the Asuogyaman district towards agriculture, the poultry farmer said that the assembly is helping to improve agriculture in their district, explaining that, the assembly sometimes organized a workshop for the farmers. He said they also engaged them to find out about their challenges and provided them with the necessary assistance such as the provision of insecticides for their farming activities.
He was also particularly worried about the refusal of the financial institutions to grant them loans in order to expand their farming businesses.
Source: ritefmonline.org
