Samuel Offei Acquah is 2024 Ga East Municipal overall Best Farmer

A 58-year-old man, Samuel Offei Acquah, has been adjudged the 2024 Overall Best Farmer in the Ga East Municipality as the Assembly celebrated the 40th National Farmers' Day and 20th Municipal edition on Friday, 8th November, 2024, at the GAEC Park, Atomic.

The occasion, which is used to celebrate and honour farmers across the country, saw four farmers awarded for their hard work and contribution to the agriculture sector in the Municipality.

The awardees were Samuel Offei Acquah, Overall Best Farmer; Abdul Salam David, Best Crop Farmer; Paul Agorsu Danklu, Best Livestock Farmer; and Mary Osei Agyeman, Best Agro Processor.

Samuel Offei Acquah, whose 7-acre farmland is located at Atomic, grows maize, yam, cassava, cabbage, okro, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, ademe, and gboma, and also has 6 goats and 50 local fowls.

Mr. Offei Acquah, married with 5 children, took home a certificate and items including a deep freezer, a 32-inch television, 3 knapsack machines, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), 9 cutlasses, 3 harvesting crates, 3 Wellington boots, 2 boxes of agrochemicals, a wheelbarrow, and 4 hermetic grain bags and sacks.

The second and third-placed winners were also given certificates and each took home various items, including a 310-litre deep freezer, while the fourth awardee also received a certificate and a dehydrator among other items.

Delivering the keynote address on the theme for this year's celebration, "Building Climate Resilient Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security," the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Deborah Ampofo, outlined various intervention programs of the government and other relevant stakeholders in addressing climate change and food security issues.

She took cognizance of the debilitating impact of climate change on agriculture and its repercussions on food security in the country, calling on all and sundry to help combat it.

"Farmers are already experiencing the effects of climate change through extreme weather and less predictable seasons, which transform pastures and croplands around the world. Climate change affects agriculture and those who rely on it by weakening environmental health, undermining production, wiping out crops, killing off livestock, making it more difficult to earn a living, and extending the amount of time families must go without food."

"It is expected that all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain, researchers, policymakers, processors, farmers, and marketers, will work hard to ensure food is available and affordable for all," she appealed.

She emphasized the significant role farmers and other actors in the sector contribute to the growth and sustenance of the economy of Ghana in general and the Ga East Municipality in particular and commended them for their hard work.

She indicated that it was for this reason that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's administration has prioritized agriculture as the backbone of the economy and introduced various initiatives, including the Planting for Food and Jobs, which have helped transform the sector and increased productivity throughout the country and in the Municipality.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, Amb. Michael Aaron Oquaye Jnr, who chaired the function, praised farmers and fisherfolk in the country and the Ga East Municipality in particular for their sacrifices in ensuring we have food to eat and grow the economy.

He mentioned various government policies in the agriculture sector, since the coming into office of President Akufo-Addo in 2017, which have contributed significantly to transforming the sector and ensuring there is no scarcity of food in the country.

He pledged to expand his manifesto on agriculture, in his quest to become the Member of Parliament for the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, to enable him to support efforts in addressing challenges of farmers and other actors in the sector in general in the Municipality.

Amb. Oquaye Jnr, in his personal capacity, presented Five Thousand Cedis (GHC5,000.00) to the Overall Best Farmer.

The Municipal Director of Agriculture (MDA), Ms. Marian Mawunyo Dompey, expressed gratitude to the government and the Municipal Assembly for their support in ensuring that farmers in the Municipality benefited from the various policies and initiatives, including the free distribution of fertilizers, seedlings, and fingerlings, as well as training programs aimed at equipping the farmers and Agric Extension Officers with the requisite knowledge and skills to enhance their work.

The occasion brought together various stakeholders, including traditional leaders, religious leaders, Assembly Members, Heads of Security Agencies, farmers, market women, and other agro-processors who, together with some of the farmers, exhibited their products.

Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion were the President of the Ga East Chiefs' Association, Samuel Nii Annang Ofori, Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD), Mr. Nii-Amarh Ashitey, and the Presiding Member (PM), Bright Paul Mintah.

Kake Dance Ensemble entertained the gathering with thrilling cultural performances.