Ghana government allocates GH¢5m for 2015 Farmers Day
The 2015 National Farmers Day was on Friday launched in Accra to usher in the beginning of activities leading to a durbar in honour of the farmers and fishermen in the country, and the government has allocated GH¢5 million for the celebrations.
This year’s national durbar, which would be held in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East Region, on the theme: “Transform Ghana: Invest in Agriculture,” marks the 31st Farmers’ Day celebration,
Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, expressed the appreciation of the Ministry to donors, companies and businesses, who support the Day’s activities yearly.
“The willingness of corporate Ghana to support the National farmers’ Day every year is an indication of the importance the nation attaches to the celebration and our desire to honour our gallant farmers through whose sweat and toil Ghanaians are fed”, Mr Kwetey said.
He said the theme for this year’s event had been carefully selected to emphasize the ripple effects of investment in agriculture on the growth of service and industry sectors.
He explained that, there is direct relationship between the agriculture sector, on one hand, and the service and industrial sector on the other, for which reason, any investment in agriculture would create both forward and backward linkages of growth among these sector and the Ghanaian economy as a whole.
“It is clear that agriculture is the major catalyst for the economic transformation of the country and must attract investments by both public and private sectors. We must therefore make a concerted effort to invest in agriculture to transform the economy”, Mr Kwetey said.
He also urged corporate Ghana to come on board and donate various items to sponsor this year’s award winners.
The Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper, who launched the programme on behalf of the government, said the transformation that is so much desired by the Ghanaian economy could only be attained through a well-coordinated strategic investment in the agriculture sector.
“Ghana being an agrarian economy stands to benefit a great deal if there are more investments in the sector,” he said.
He said government, through prudent policies and programmes, was therefore, putting in place projects and initiatives to remove constraints in the agriculture sector to make investment into the sector less risky and rewarding.
He said the Finance Ministry would collaborate with the Agriculture Ministry to educate domestic businesses and local exporters, which are engaged in agricultural productions on many of the tax incentives, which had been rolled out by government to enable them to benefit from such incentives to boost agriculture.
On the celebrations, Mr Terkper announced that his Ministry would provide the GH¢5 million budget for the celebrations.
Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture urged the National Planning Committee of the Farmers Day to consider the fishing sector and the role it plays in the national economy, directly employing 2.5 million people and contributing five per cent to GDP.
She said the Committee must ensure that fishermen, who are awarded at the celebrations, are given the requisite equipment and items that could aid them in fishing.
A representative of the Agriculture Development Bank, announced that ADB would again sponsor the overall best farmer with a three bedroom fully furnished house at a place of the winner’s choice.
Mr Alhassan Andani, Managing Director of Stanbic Bank also pledged the Company’s readiness to sponsor the second best farmer with a decent farm vehicle, whilst Dr Barfour Osei, Chief Executive Officer of EDAIF said his organization was ready to support the Agriculture Ministry with any request regarding the celebration.
Source: GNA