Agric sector to enjoy massive govt investment

The government has pledged massive investment to change the face of the nation’s agriculture, to woo more young people into the sector.

Dr. Ahmed Mustapha, Youth and Sports Minister, said carefully targeted interventions would be introduced to promote youth development through agriculture.

He was opening a two-day training programme to expose selected youth farmers to innovative ways of plantain cultivation at Asankare.

The training is part of Ghana-Columbia collaboration, and it was attended by 80 youth farmers drawn from the Asante-Akim South and Atwima-Nwabiagya Districts.

A six–member Columbian team was on hand to take them through land preparation, planting, harvesting and how to preserve the produce.

They were also taught to add value to their produce - using the peel and stem of plantain to make footwear and purse.

Dr. Mustapha said the programme was part of the government’s push to fight youth unemployment and reduce poverty.

He noted that Ghana and Columbia have many things in common – weather conditions, land and soil structure, and therefore the partnership to tap their expertise in plantain farming to cut down post-harvest losses.

He said the farmers were being assisted to prevent their produce from going waste, and urged the beneficiaries to transfer the knowledge acquired to other farmers.

Mr. De-graft Forkuo, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said there was no doubt that the training would significantly help to improve on the lives of the farmers, adding that, the government would continue to pursue programmes and policies to better the lot of the population.