Gov’t Cannot Solely Transform Agric Sector— Deputy Agric Minister

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The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Yaw Frimpong Addo, has described Agrihouse Foundation, as a worthy partner with government in unlocking and transforming the massive potentials of the country’s agricultural sector.

He said Agrihouse Foundation is well known to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) for its ability to mobilize stakeholders within the agricultural space to display Ghana’s potential in the sector.

He said Agrihouse Foundations efforts are complementing that of government by helping to unlocking opportunities in the sector, and improving livelihoods of citizenry through technical assistance, especially in the areas of production and marketing.

“We at MoFA has always have always found the interventions of Agrihouse to be very positive, highly transformative and consistent with government development agenda for the agricultural sector,” he said.

The Deputy Minister made these observations yesterday, at the ‘Gathering of the Royals and Stakeholders Meeting,’ held by the Foundation in Accra, on the theme, “The Role of Royals in Accelerating Agri-Peace and Developing Sustainable Farmers.”

The event hosted 50 queen mothers, drawn from all 16 regions of the country. It was aimed at strengthening partnerships and collaborative efforts among traditional leaders and key stakeholders in the fields of Academia, policy, Government, development agencies and Agric institutions— to explore opportunities within the agric sector, as well as conflict resolutions alternatives towards Peace-building, and the development of sustainable farmers in the country.

According to the Deputy Minister, Government strongly believes in private sector participation and partnerships that bring all actors together to forge formidable alliances that find solutions to the problems in the agric sector.

Because of such private sector partnerships and participations, he noted, government has consistently, been able to provide fifty percent subsidized inputs of citified seeds and fertilizers to over 1.5 million farmers in the last five years.

He said government has established greenhouse villages at Dawhanye in Accra, Bawjuasi, in the central region, and Akim Oda in the Ashanti region, as part of efforts to modernize the agric sector through the production of high value vegetables and food crops.

He noted, the development of the tree crops sector through the promotion of crops like cashew, mango, shea, rubber, coffee, coconut and oil constitute part of governments to diversify its earnings from the tree crop sector.

“The construction of 80, 1000 MT warehouse facilities across the country under the One-District One- Warehouse programme marks the dawn of the new era to sustainably address the perennial problem of post-harvest losses suffered by farmers,” he added.

He therefore urged the Queen Mothers to make the most of the ‘Gathering of the Royals’ Event, which he said was an appropriate platform to empower them to take up the challenges of providing the needed leadership in their respective communities.

About ‘Gathering of the Royals’

The event hosted fifty (50) queen mothers, drawn from all 16 regions of the country, with representatives from Academia, policy, Government, development agencies and Agric institutions, to explore opportunities within the agric sector, as well as conflict resolutions alternatives towards Peace-building, and the development of sustainable farmers in the country.

Gathering of Royals,’ has over the last 3 years, been held as part of our annual Women in Food and Agric Leadership Training Forum (WOFAGRIC) and the Gold in the Soil Awards, which mentors, trains and builds the of women in agriculture, whiles celebrating the efforts of outstanding ones. The 1^st was held in the Volta Region, 2^nd in the Ashanti Region and 3^rd in the Upper East Region.

The 4^th and first independent edition of the event was held in Accra, at the GNAT Hall, on the theme, “The Role of Royals in Accelerating Agri-Peace and Developing Sustainable Farmers.”

 

The event hosted notable personalities including, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture; Hon. Yaw Frimpong Addo; Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle Constituency, Hon. Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings; and Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs; Hon. John Osei Frimpong.

Equally important contributors included, Country Manager of OCP Africa, Mr. Samuel Oduro-Asare; Chairman of the National Farmers and Fishermen Winners Association; Mr. Korboe Narh Davies; Chairperson of National Commission for Civic Education; Madam Josephine Nkrumah; Development Queen Mother of Afigye-Kwabre District; Nana Adjoa Awindor; Executive Director of the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency Ghana; Hajia Salifu Saeed, and Officiating Imam of Dara-Salam Mosque; Imam Sa-id Mukhtar Abubakar.

The event was sponsored by Agromoti Company Limited and Continental Director of Eco Africa Resource Group. Others include, WAATCO, Nanam Ventures, Benyima Farms and C. Woermann.