Agric sector receives GH¢120m gov’t bonanza

Vice-President Mr. Kwesi Amissah Arthur has disclosed that government has allocated GH¢120million to the rice, shea, cashew and agro-processing sub-sectors of the country to facilitate their activities and expand the agricultural sector.

It will also help them to produce quality crops and grains to meet demands of the market.

As a further boost to the agriculture sector, government will in the next five years invest GH¢3billion in constructing roads for cocoa-growing regions with the intention of facilitating transportation of farm produce to various market centres so as to help reduce post-harvest losses.

It is also to distribute an additional 500 tractors and implements to farmers in 2016 through public private partnerships.

In a speech read on his behalf at this year’s 31st National Farmers Day at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, under the theme ‘Transform Ghana: Invest in agriculture’, said government acknowledges the enormous potential agriculture has for providing sustainable employment, decent incomes and improved standards of living for the farmers as well as food security.

“The transformation of Ghanaian economy through accelerated agricultural modernisation and sustainable resource management is a priority of government to attract investors,” he said.

According to the Vice President, government has increased the number of Agricultural mechanisation service centres from 57 in 2009 to 89 in 2014, which has resulted in the total area of farm services increasing by 56 percent.

“We are doing these with the conviction that the agricultural sector has great potential requiring partnership with a private sector prepared to take advantage of the investment climate we are creating for mutually beneficial enterprises,” he said.

He stated that aside from government concentrating on the farms, it is also investing in other projects to revamp the fisheries sub-sector; some of them being modern cold-stores which have been completed at Prampram, Nyanyano, Shama, Sekondi-Takoradi, Half Assini and Kormantse.

“We are also completing six landing sites with modern facilities, including cold-stores, market stalls and children’s nurseries at Mumford, James Town, Teshie, Anloga, Tapa-Abotoase and Dzemeni. An additional 25 landing sites are also in the planning stages,” Mr. Amissah-Arthur added.

“Despite the significant post-harvest losses that reduce the returns of agriculture, we are aware that on average the rate of return from investing in agriculture is higher than that of trading and commerce; yet many people prefer to invest in trade and commerce rather than in agriculture, and this mind-set must change,” he said.

He noted that a fish processing plant is under construction at Elmina, from which the by-products will be used for the production of fish feed to boost aquaculture production.