Market-driven workshop on agriculture ends in Sunyani

Sunyani (B/A) Nov. 6, GNA - Mr. Nii Amasah Namoale, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, on Thursday asked farmers to adopt and apply the principles and methods of modern farming, to boost production.

He stressed the need for farmers to embrace record keeping and other techniques to monitor and evaluate the progress of their activities. Mr. Namoale was speaking at a two-day agricultural conference and exhibition on: "Focus on Agriculture: Market-Driven Agriculture for Accelerated Rural Economic Development."

It was organised by African Connections Ghana Limited (ACGL), a development consulting firm with specialisation in Rural Economic Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and funded by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited and ProCredit Bank.

The conference was attended by 119 participants comprising leaders of farmers associations, district chief executives and personnel from the agricultural inputs and agro-food processing companies. It was on the theme: "Practical ways of Cultivating Crops to Ensure Quality Improvement and Smallholder Farmers' Income"

It was aimed at exploring avenues for access to loans/financing to support farmer-based organisations, engage leaders of farmer-based associations in capacity building workshops to improve their effectiveness, bring local authorities, private sector companies, financial institutions and development partners together to strategise on effective ways to boost agriculture and explore innovative techniques to improve profits from farming. Mr. Namoale who is also the Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon said MoFA had always been a strong advocate of successful farming as evident in successive government policies and agricultural development programmes. He said marginalised farmers could reap the real benefits of such programmes if they did not view them as mere humanitarian gestures, but as a way of boosting their real income.

Mr. Namoale called for a paradigm shift in the mode of thinking and attitudes of farmers towards government agricultural initiatives. He said successful farming was about optimisation of all available factors of production in combination with the use of sustainable intensification options to get good quality yields. This he said was the surest way to boost the income of smallholder farmers.

Dr. Ayesha Hakeem, Managing Director of ACGL said agriculture could be the engine of growth if was marketing and technologically driven to enhance overall productivity and profitability. She expressed grief over the numerous problems plaguing the agricultural sector notwithstanding government's efforts and commitments to boost food production.

These include lack of modern agricultural infrastructure like storage and processing facilities and access to credit, low level of technical-know how exhibited by farmers and their inability to produce to meet specific international market demands.

Dr. Hakeem said it was imperative that innovative strategies/policies were formulated and implemented to reduce the challenges facing the sector. The conference brainstormed on topics such as: "Fish Farming: An Opportunity for Small-Scale Farmers to increase their income," "The Role of District Assemblies in Championing an Integrated Approach to Market-Driven Agriculture," and "Introduction of Market Oriented Agriculture Programmes: Development of Agriculture Value Chains."

The participants were also exposed to: "The Mango Value Chain in Brong Ahafo- Achievements, Challenges and Lessons Learned," "Irrigation as a Tool to Increase Profits" and "How to Successfully Access agro-Loans."