Science Farmers Donation Societe Generale (SG) Ghana Bank has donated ¢50,000.00 to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture towards the commemoration of the 35th National Farmers’ Day.
The annual, slated for Friday, December 6, is under the theme, “Enhancing Small Scale Agriculture towards Agribusiness Development”.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, in September this year, launched the event, which will be hosted by the Volta Regional capital of Ho.
Presenting the cheque to the Ministry, Mr Ernest Kuetche, the Deputy Managing Director of the SG Ghana, said the bank was committed to supporting the agricultural sector as it appreciated its contribution of the sector to the economy.
“We know that the contribution of agriculture to the economy is very substantial, hence, the need for us to encourage farmers to do more through a gesture like this,” he said.
The bank was also supporting the cocoa and minerals sector, he said.
“As a bank, what we do is to provide fertiliser financing to farmers to enable them to operate,” he explained.
Mr Kennedy Osei Nyarko, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of Horticulture, who received the cheque, expressed appreciation for the support.
“The gesture is a sign of good faith that shows how committed the Bank is to enhance
small-scale agriculture,” he added.
He appealed to benevolent individuals and organisations to also support the Ministry as it had more than 2.5 million farmers across the country to reward during the celebration.
The Deputy Minister said this year’s celebration would be geared towards promoting agribusiness by helping small scale farmers to add value to their produce.
“Almost 40 per cent to 50 per cent of Ghana’s population are farmers but the majority are small scale farmers, therefore, they must be encouraged to expand to commercial levels.”Mr Nyarko entreated the Ghana Cocoa Board to ensure that cocoa farmers had access to goods roads to transport their cocoa to various markets from the rural areas.