2007 National Best Farmer receives keys to three-bedroom house

Adako-Jachie, (Ash), July 29, GNA - The 2007 National Best Farmer, Alhaji Abdul Salam Akate, on Wednesday received the keys to a three-bedroom house worth GH¢ 60,000.00 as his prize. The fully furnished house was built for him by the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at Adako-Jachie near Ejisu in Ashanti. Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture, who handed over the keys to the Best Farmer, said President John Evans Atta Mills had directed that future award winners should have their houses ready within six months.

He said; "In the past we have seen delays in the handing over of the award to the Best Farmer and as you observe, the 2007 house for the Best Farmer is being handed over today after a whole year and half later".

Mr Ahwoi said it was the determination of the government to increase agricultural output by subsidizing the price of fertilizer to cover the whole spectrum of operators in crop farming. The youth, he said, would be encouraged to take over from the ageing farmers under the "Youth in Agriculture and Block Farm" programmes and expressed the hope that the Chief Farmers would assist in that direction.

Mr Ahwoi said under the programme, about 14,000 hectares of land had been allocated for rice, maize and Soya bean cultivation this year and this was expected to yield over 42,000 metric tonnes. Mr Ibrahim Adam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ADB, said the bank would continue to put in place appropriate interventions to sustain the noble cause it had pursued over the years. He said the role of the ADB in agricultural financing to ensure national food security, employment and income for the many whose lives depended on it, was thus crucial.

Mr Adam said it was in recognition of this that the ADB was giving priority to agriculture in its Five-Year Corporate Strategic Plan currently under implementation.

He said in spite of the challenges facing agricultural financing, the bank's loans to farmers rose by 27 per cent from 79.8 million Cedis in December 2007 to 101.4 million Cedis at the end of December 2008. This represented 39.7 per cent of the total banking industry's credit to the agricultural sector.

Mr Yaw Opoku Atuahene, Managing Director of ADB, said the bank considered its sponsorship of the prize for the National Best farmer as not only a social responsibility but as a complement to the efforts of the government. Alhaji Akate urged the government to address problems impeding the growth of agriculture. "Ghanaian farmers will want to see something positive done to the cost of borrowing and the high interest rate charged by the banks, preventing most farmers from expanding their farms," he said. 29 July 09