Chief Executive Officer of De Jordan’s Agro and Investment, Mr Jordan Sheriff Owusu has appealed to the legislature and the executive arms of government to speed up the passage of the Tree Crop Development Bill to facilitate the activities of the tree crop sector.
Speaking on Rite Morning Ride, Jordan Sheriff said, president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that the Tree Crops Development Bill will be put before Parliament in May this year, but till now nothing much has happened to meet the aims and the objectives set by the president.
Adding that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) must consult all the necessary stakeholders, collate ideas and implement it by laying emphases on production, processing, marketing, storage to enhance the sustainably of the sector.
“ When passed, the Authority will help accelerate the production and marketing of tree crops such as cashew, mango, rubber, oil palm and coffee, so as to broaden the country’s foreign exchange earnings” he said.
Mr Jordan Sheriff Owusu said the passage of the proposed Tree and Industrial Crops Development Authority bill will be refreshing for industry actors, especially those in the cashew and mango value chains. Highlighted that the absence of a regulatory body has been identified as the main challenge to development of these crops in the country, as farmers receive very little for their produce from individual buyers.
The vision of the Cashew Development Plan (2017-2027), launched by the president of the land is to aggressively expand, modernize and transform Ghana’s cashew sector into a significant foreign exchange earner, creating jobs and substantial wealth for Ghanaians, while enhancing the environment to reduce global warming but the price has fallen over 70% which is affecting farmers profit.
He acknowledged the contributions of the president for fighting tirelessly for the development of the agriculture sector by implementing flagship agricultural policies to reduce importation.
Source: ritefmonline.org/Austin Ofori Addo
