The Government’s hugely successful agricultural flagship policy Planting for Food and Jobs(PFJ) has received massive endorsement from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana(PCG).
The Church, at its National Agriculture Stakeholders Consultation Meeting held on Wednesday at its National Headquarters, said it was ready to partner government and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in the agenda by Government to revamp and restructure the country’s agricultural sector through the PFJ initiative.
It has therefore hinted that it would soon engage the Ministry to ensure that the over 200,000 of members, who are directly engaged in agriculture, would also benefit from the programme.
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Obiri Mantey, emphasised that the agricultural sector was very critical to poverty eradication and development of the socio-economic lives of many Ghanaians.
The National Stakeholders Consultation is organised by the Department of Development and Social Services of the Church to discuss issues relating to the spiritual and socio-economic wellbeing of the people of Ghana.
The programme, which was under the theme, “Impacting and Transforming our World Through the Social Services”, also had sub theme “Realizing the Transformative Potential of Agriculture Modernization; Leveraging the Synergies of a PCG-GOG Partnership”
Rt. Rev. Obiri Mantey said the Church, since its establishment in 1828, has formalized partnership with successive leaderships and Governments of this country in areas of Health, Agriculture and Relief Services.
He noted that the Church established seven Agriculture Services in the early seventies in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Eastern and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana to complement the efforts of Government at poverty eradication in rural communities of the country.
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana expressed the hope that the Stakeholders Consultation would offer the opportunity for reflection and sharing of ideas in order to help strengthen the bond and partnership between Government and the Church.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Mantey therefore lauded the efforts being made by Government through various interventions to develop the agricultural sector and appealed to Ghanaians to give the needed support towards their implementation.
Government’s Assurance
Speaking on behalf of the Sector Minister, a Deputy Minister in charge of Horticulture and MP for Akim Swedru, Hon. Kennedy Osei- Nyarko, said government and for that matter the Ministry is ready to collaborate with the Church and other civil society groups in the agenda to transform the country’s economy through the agricultural sector.
He said the introduction of the various initiatives such as the Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development, Rearing for Food and Jobs as well as the Greenhouse Villages, had yielded tremendous successes and improved the lives of many Ghanaians.
Hon. Osei-Nyarko pointed out that the Presbyterian Church as an institution has over the years contributed tremendously to the socio-economic development of the country, adding that the contribution of the church in the areas of health, education, agriculture and social services was very commendable.
He therefore expressed the readiness of the Ministry to further deepen the collaboration between the Church and Government.
By: Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org
