Mr Nicholas Fiifi Baako, the Assin-Fosu Municipal Chief Executive, has advised the youth to venture into farming as a viable endeavour for wealth creation and food security sustenance.
That would also help reduce the rate of migration and create sustainable jobs to end the teeming youth unemployment challenges, he said.
Mr Baako said it was intriguing the unwillingness of many Ghanaian youth to take up farming as an occupation despite the venture being capable of putting one on the path of socioeconomic freedom.
Mr Baako told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that he could not fathom the hesitancy of young people in accepting farming with the assumption that agriculture was unprofitable.
That was a misconception being corrected by the government with prudent policies to make agriculture attractive to the youth, he said.
The interventions include the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs), Rearing for Food and Jobs, and subsidised fertilizer, impacting positively on livelihoods.
“Instead of staying at home for years after graduating from the university for white collar jobs, get a parcel of land somewhere and start planting something and see the end result,” Mr Baako said.
Successful farming operations, he said, were also based on diligent planning, acquisition of the right farming equipment to boost yield, and availability of soft loans for farming purposes.
Throwing more light on the advantages of farming, he explained that it ensures food security through improved food production and animal products, lessens food imports, and enhances livelihoods by providing income.
Mr Baako encouraged persons already in farming to do more research and adopt new methods of safe farming to boost yields and prevent post-harvest losses.
He said climate change had led to annual erratic rainfall patterns causing flooding and sometimes destroying several hectares of farmlands or drought leading to late planting and poor yields.
He, therefore, advised Ghanaians to eschew activities that were detrimental to the environment including bush burning, tree felling, and improper use of agrochemicals and adopt improved agriculture technologies to increase production.
