Farming is not a preserve of the uneducated – Prof Ziem

Professor Juventus Benogle Ziem, a Microbiology Professor at the School of Medical Health, University for Development Studies (UDS), has stated that farming is not the preserve of the uneducated and poor people in society.

He said it should be seen as the way to go if the country was to develop and meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Prof. Ziem, who was also a commercial farmer, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Nandom on Thursday.

He therefore advised the youth to see agriculture as a business and source of employment to improve their living conditions.

Prof Ziem said increased agricultural production was key to national development and urged the government to put in the necessary measures to encourage the youth to venture into the sector.

He explained that farming, if practised appropriately, required minimal capital investment as compared to other forms of businesses, hence the need for the government to invest resources into the sector.

The Microbiology Professor also advocated the conservation of agriculture as a measure to reduce the excessive use of fertilizer, which brought additional cost to the farmer and affected the famers' economic gains.

Madam Valaria Dery, a farmer in Nandom told the GNA that access to tractor services was a major challenge to her in her farming activities.

"How to get a tractor to plough my farm is always a problem and sometimes the time I will get the tractor time had already gone, so I will farm but will not get anything”, she said.

Madam Dery also noted that much of the farm produce was lost when transporting them from the farms to the storage and market centres due to the lack of good roads.

She appealed to the government to consider the plight of farmers and work hard to improve the road network in the area to reduce Post Harvest Loses.