By Austin Ofori-Addo:
The second National Best Farmer for 2004 and CEO of Kumah Farms and Training Center has added his voice to the numerous calls for the need for the provision of irrigation systems for Ghanaian farmers. Speaking in an interview with Rite news, Nana Kwaku Siaw urged the government to support farmers with irrigation since that can help in the development of the Agric sector.
According to Nana Siaw, looking at the worsening climate conditions, irrigation is the only alternative and farmers depending on the rains is not favorable to them. He lamented that prices of foodstuffs have been on the increase since the beginning of the year with severe shortages being recorded in some instances.
The 2004 second national best farmer compared Ghana to Burkina Faso which he says has put in place pragmatic plans that are helping and supporting their agriculture sector. He lamented that Ghana now imports such products as onion, cabbage, carrot, maize, etc from Burkina Faso even in the face of the availability of vast fertile lands while all that was needed was the cultivation of the land, a responsibility that has largely been ignored since ‘we lack plans and ideas to implement good policies,’ he added.
Nana Siaw is convinced that agriculture can reduce the unemployment rate in the country if we follow the value chain. He explained that adopting good policies will result in abundant yield of agricultural produce which will be stored as well as processed into cans and sacks for exportation and local consumption where the youth will be encouraged to go into farming.
He also urged the chiefs as well as the government and other stakeholders to help fight illegal mining because it’s a threat to the agric sector as long as cocoa production is concerned since such activities always take place at cocoa growing areas in Ghana.
Source: ritefmonline.org
