I have not received my awards; 2016 best farmer cries foul

The 2016 National Best Farmer says he is disappointed in the government for reneging on the promise to build him a house.

Robert Crentsil, 42-year-old farmer from Ajumako Enyan-Essiam district in the Central Region, said he was promised a fully furnished three-bedroom house constructed for him in any part of the country of his choice.

Mr. Crentsil was adjudged the best farmer last year with 120 acres of cocoa farm, 80 acres of rubber, 60 acres of plantain, 60 acres of cowpea, 30 acres of cassava, 7 acres of oil palm, 6 acres of coconut, 15 acres of citrus farms among others.

“I have not received the award yet but I am supposed to do the handing over tomorrow,” he revealed to Onua News ahead of Friday’s Farmer’s Day in Kumasi dubbed ‘Farming for Food and Jobs’.

He said efforts to get the executive board of Agric Development Bank (ADB) who were the main sponsors of the programme have proven futile.

“I am done with all the necessary documents to get a house from an estate developer located in Kasoa but the ADB has refused to process the documents for me to be given the house”.

Feeling disenchanted, the 2016 national best farmer has suggested to the government to present money to subsequent winners instead of promising them houses to avoid discomfort, hassle and embarrassment they go through when pressing for the awards.

Meanwhile, Robert Crentsil has appealed to government to bring the interest rate down specifically for farmers and assist them with modern farming inputs, which he said will go a long way for government’s Planting for Food and Jobs policy to achieve its target.

He has also urged the youth to be humble so that traditional leaders and custodians of lands would willingly release their arable lands for them to cultivate in order to reduce unemployment rate in the country.