Association appeals to traditional rulers for farmland

Mohammed Adam Nashiru, Chairman of the Northern Regional Farmers Association (NRFA) has appealed to traditional authorities in the region to make land available to individuals to venture into agriculture.

This, he said would effectively bring about the needed peace and income security to adequately ensure that the region attained development as well as bring an end to the teeming youth unemployment in the region.

Mr Adam Nashiru was speaking at a News conference held in Tamale on Thursday to express the association's satisfaction of government’s numerous interventions in the agriculture sector to help address the plight of farmers.

He appealed to the traditional authorities to help halt the practices of indiscriminate bush burning, illegal and rampant felling of trees especially shea and dawadawa trees, which had economic and medicinal values.

He said government's flagship programme of Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) as well as the recruitment of extension officers had boosted farming activities leading to major reduction in rural-urban migration especially among the youth.

To this end, “the youth are now engaging in farming and other Agri-Business related activities hence, the reduction of crime and conflict in the region”, he said.

“The recent announcement by the President in the Brong Ahafo region to increase the number of farmers engaged in the PFJ from 200,000 to one million is another manifestation of government's commitment to improve our standard of living as a sovereign state”, he indicated.

Mr Adam Nashiru said government needed to implement pragmatic measures to regulate the activities of nomadic heads men on arable lands, to ensure the succession of the numerous agricultural interventions put in place.

He called for the quick and prompt distribution of inputs across the region including; inaccessible areas and the “over-seas” as well as make seeds for the PFJ optional for farmers to use their own seeds as MoFA put in measures to revamp the seed sector.

He appealed to government, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to partner relevant organisations including; Alliance for Green Revolution Africa (AGRA) and the Agriculture Value Chain Enhancement (Advance) in the fight against the fall army worm.