Dr. Bawumia will promote agribusinesses - NAPO

Ghanaian farmers and other stakeholders in agriculture have been assured that Dr. Bawumia's government will give their welfare maximum attention and support.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice Presidential Candidate, gave firm assurance that the NPP values the role of agriculture in national development.

In this regard, he has announced that the Dr. Bawumia's government will implement policies that will enhance agribusinesses to immensely benefit stakeholders in that crucial sector.

Speaking at Kejeji in Sene East in the Bono East region as part of his national campaign tour on Friday, Dr Prempeh, aka 'NAPO', hinted that agribusinesses would certainly flourish.

According to him, the next NPP administration would readily provide the necessary financial, technical, and other support to help agribusinesses thrive in the country.

"The potential for expanding and creating thousands of new jobs in agribusiness in response to the opportunities in food security and food exports, including in AgriTech, is significant.

"That's why under Dr. Bawumia's presidency, we plan to make significant investments and reforms in the sector, including agricultural research, food production, food preservation, and value-addition", he noted.

Highlighting some of the key things that Dr. Bawumia-NAPO will do in earnest to promote agribusinesses, he said "We shall create agricultural enclaves in each region based on its competitive advantage via private sector collaboration.

NAPO also announced publicly that the government will strategically invest in research and the development of digital and Artificial Intelligence technologies to help boost food production and distribution.

"This is aimed at improving production, reducing post-harvest losses, and packaging agricultural produce for freshness/longer shelf life as well as farming under arid conditions, and Agric mechanization", he said.

NAPO noted, "We shall also redirect Development Bank Ghana (DBG) to expand its financing and guarantee lines, especially through the proposed SME Bank that we will set up.

"This bank will support entities engaged in the manufacturing of value-added agricultural products consumed in large quantities by Ghanaians, including the processing and packaging of basic agricultural foods".

NAPO said the government will also accelerate the growth of agro-industries "through financing and guarantees from Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Share System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL)".