2016 National Best Maize Farmer, Mr. Kofi Vinyor is calling on farmers to be more responsible in carrying out their duties as farmers rather than depending on the government.
Rather, he believes farmers must plan for everything needed to enlarge their farms.
Speaking on Rite FM’s Agric Forum with Austin Ofori Addo, the national best maize farmer slammed farmers for their ‘low self-esteem’ and urged them to employ all the necessary mechanisms required in the discharge of their jobs.
“Farmers should not see themselves as poor people but must put good mechanisms in place to prepare their own budget without depending on anyone for help and any government intervention should be bonus to support their work,” he said.
Mr. Kofi Vinyor believes farmers ought to take the mantle and ensure the sustainability of their farming activities since the government is already burdened with lots of responsibilities.
“Government has a lot of responsibilities and so farmers and Farmer-Based Organizations must play their respective roles to achieve a brighter future because the government in its quest to achieve its goals in the sector may fail in carrying out its duties,” he averred.
This, if done could as well encourage them to engage in good cultural practices to meet both local and international markets, he added.
The maize farmer identified regular capacity building for farmers to enhance their appreciation of the sector as a hub for wealth creation.
“For farmers to understand the concept of agriculture, there is the need to organize capacity building for them to change their mind sets that farming is for the poor but that farmers are the richest people globally,” he asserted.
The move, he added, will enable the farmers to create ready markets locally for themselves to deal with problems of post-harvest loses among the farmers in the country.
“There is a ready market in the country and the farmers are not even able to feed the local markets,” he said. “Ghana imports tons of rice and chicken parts among others which consumers patronize religiously which is indicative that there is abundance of ready market for produce from the country,” he said.
By Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org/austinofori.addo@gmail.com
