Mr. Davis Narh Koboe, Chairman for National Farmers and Fishermen Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG), who was the 2009 National Best Farmer says Ghana’s quest to wean itself off foreign aid would need to be underpinned by a modern Agricultural system.
Speaking on Rite Morning Ride, he said the country’s over-dependence on imported food is not just a security concern but a threat to building an industrial based economy.
“If we are going to achieve this type of agriculture, we need technology and innovation. We targeted financing that addresses different constituencies within the agricultural value chain and the need to look at our land tenure system”, he told Austin Ofori Addo.
The Ghana Beyond Aid project, initiated by Ghana’s government, seeks to among other things build “a prosperous and self-confident nation that is in charge of her economic destiny, a transformed Ghana that is prosperous enough to be beyond needing aid, and that engages competitively with the rest of the world through trade and investment”.
Ghana’s economy has always been dominated by farming and agribusiness. Some sources estimate about half of the country’s population directly or indirectly employed in the sector.
In recent years, manufacturing and servicing sectors have overtaken agriculture’s contribution to Ghana’s GDP. This is the trend that has characterized almost all economic transformation processes in several countries.
For instance, in 1967 the share of manufacturing to total GDP in Ghana, Malaysia, and Thailand were 11.9%, 11.7% and 15.3%, respectively.
However, the contribution of these sectors to GDP grew significantly in Malaysia and Thailand to 28.4% and 31.1% in 1997 and 2010.
The NFFAWAG Chairman stated that the investment into farming should be service-driven, fueled by modern technology, targeted at the most productive farmers.
“The nation-building and development must take on a special meaning if an agricultural transformation process must unfold in contributing to the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda,’’ Mr. Davies Korboe said.
He invited government to come on board and do more to help farmers by providing funding.
Touching on the government flagship agricultural policy Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) program, he lauded the President and the joint leadership of Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) for taking the bold initiative meant to further boost the revival of the country’s economic growth through the Agricultural sector, especially, the production of cash crops for exports.
“Cocoa is never the life wire of this country, lets develop an alternative non-traditional crop.”
He further urged the Ministry of Food and Agriculture not to focus just on the importation of farm machineries alone but should look at the maintenance culture, where trained technicians will be made available to carry the mantle of servicing the machines when they break down.
Source: Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org/Rite 90.1FM
