Agric colleges to be given a new lease of life

Diploma and Certificate awarding agriculture colleges in the country are to be renovated and resourced by the government.

To begin with, the Ohawu and Kwadaso agriculture colleges in the Volta and Ashanti regions are to be provided with water pumping machines at a cost of 26 million cedis each.

Major Courage Quashigah, Minister for Food and Agriculture said this at a get-together of old and current students of the Ohawu Agriculture College at Ohawu on Saturday.

He said the government has decided to reduce the importation of cereals and poultry products and inject savings on these imports into boosting their domestic production, job creation and revenue generation.

Major Quashigah, therefore, advised agriculture colleges to introduce business planning methods into their curricula to prepare their graduates for self-employment and to educate farmers to adopt business approaches to their activities.

Mr. Agyekum Sabraw, Principal of the college called for new dormitories and classrooms and the rehabilitation of existing ones to offer opportunities for more qualified candidates who seek admission to the college.

Mr. Benjamin Boakye, the college Prefect described the current system of capacity building in agricultural colleges as too theoretical and called for its review towards a more practical approach to ensure growth of the agriculture sector and attainment of food security in the country.

Mr. Boakye called for the extension of the loan facilities under the Youth in Agriculture Programme (YAP) to unemployed agriculture graduates to undertake agriculture ventures.

In a speech read for him, Mr Linus Koffie, Ketu District Chief Executive said, work would soon begin on the desilting of the Ohawu Dam, which supplies water to the college and surrounding communities.

Mr. Josiah Dampson, Volta regional Director of Agriculture, who chaired the function said plans are underway to upgrade certificate awarding agricultural colleges into Diploma awarding institutions.