The president of the republic and his ministers must “spend wisely” and “live modestly” to channel much resources into the agricultural sector – this is the view of Nana Opambour Oboadie Bonsu Boateng, President of the Concerned Farmers Association of Ghana.
Ministers, MPs and other government officials should stop spending on V8s and use the money to support the youth, he said.
Nana Opambour Oboadie Bonsu Boateng says these if done stood the chance to greatly improve on Ghana’s agricultural fortunes and attract the youth into the sector to boost its production and enhance food security.
The controversial farmers’ president who made the call on Rite FM’s Agric Forum with host Austin Ofori Addo was convinced that good policy implementation was the way out to get the youth interested in the sector.
“The call that the youth should go into agriculture is a step in the right direction,” he remarked. “However, what will motivate or attract them into the sector is good policy implementation.”
Identifying accommodation in farming communities as one of the key challenges hindering the interest of the youth in the agric sector, Nana Opambour suggested that special housing projects should be carried out in the farming communities to provide accommodation for potential young farmers, a situation he was convinced will encourage urban-rural migration as most of the youth will see the need to go back to the villages and venture into farming activities.
He further noted that, he will be the first step of job creation in the country and also move the country beyond aid as called by the President.
According to Nana Opambour, though the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo has a good vision for the agriculture sector, “the industry players steering the affairs of the country are not helping him to deliver to ease the workload on the farmers” and called on the President to sack the Minister of Agric.
To him, regular mentorship programs can also help the country, adding that there abound a lot of experts who can contribute to its success.
Nana Opambour again revealed that the state of the country is shaking and urgent steps are needed to strengthen the agricultural sector.
Farmers in the country are treated with a lot of challenges confronting the sector and this is because the Ministry Of Food And Agriculture and all the necessary stakeholders do not understand the language of the farmers, he said.
Nana Opambuor was dissatisfied with “unfavourable decisions” taken by policy makers which he regretted did not favor the farmers and said this was due to farmers not being engaged or consulted in the process for proper policies to be implemented for farmers to feel relief in their day to day activities.
Source: Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org/austinofori.addo@gmail.com
