By Rashid Mbugri, GNA,
Tamale, Sept 25, GNA – Dr Gyieli Nurah, the Minister of State at the Presidency in-Charge of Food and Agriculture, on Wednesday said the agriculture sector has seen massive improvements in the overall production levels through prudent agricultural programme pursued by government.
He said government increased subsidies on the retail prices of seeds and fertilizers, livestock, fisheries and poultry and initiated innovative strategies to modernise agriculture for sustainability, food security as well as creation of jobs.
Dr Nurah said this in Tamale at the opening ceremony of the Ninth Annual Pre-harvest Agribusiness Conference and Exhibition event held on the theme: “Market Accessibility: The Structured and Sustainable Pathway”.
The event was organised by Agrihouse Foundation, in partnership with the UKAid, USAID ADVANCE, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, (MoFA) the Northern Development Authority (NDA), ECOBANK and other private and international organisations.
The three-day event, is seeking to create a dynamic platform to train commodity buyers and farmers across the country to establish business relationships, create increased stakeholder linkages as well as exhibit their products and expand opportunities that would promote growth in Ghana’s agricultural sector.
Dr Nurah said since the launch of the Planting for Food And Jobs (P4FJ) in 2017, government had subsidized prices of fertilizers and seeds by 50 per cent for farmers resulting to increase in rice production by 24 per cent, maize by 72 per cent, soya beans by 39 per cent and sorghum by 100 per cent.
He said government had boosted agricultural extension delivery by recruiting and posting 2,700 graduates to all the 260 districts as well as 9,000 graduates posted under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) on the Feed Ghana Module.
Dr Nurah indicated that government, under the Planting for Export and Rural Development module in 2018, distributed 8,208,000 seedlings for cashew, coffee, coconut and oil palm and indicated that it was expected to distribute about 15,000,000 seedlings to about 105,000 farmers by the end of 2019.
"Under the Rearing for Food and Jobs, 7,500 breeding sheep would be distributed to 750 farmers in Northern Savannah in 2019" he added.
Madam Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, said the three-day-conference and exhibition would combine training programmes, field demonstrations, panel and open discussions as well as field visits and exhibitions.This, she noted, would create space for business and networking opportunities through attaining an effectively structured, and sustainable markets in tandem with global development.She said the foundation […]
