Ghana to host first ever African Agricultural Ministers' conference

Ghana is set to host the first ever Agricultural Ministers' Conference in Africa, as part of efforts aimed at pushing the continent's agricultural transformation agenda.

Ghana's Food and Agricultural Minister, Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, is putting plans in place to bring together his colleagues from the rest of the continent to discuss ways of building a strong and united front to help foster collaborations amongst member countries and promote the growth and development of agricultural as the tool for job creation.

The Minister, who was a Special Guest at the just-ended African Development Bank (AFDB) 52nd Annual Meeting in India, believes the only way to help achieve the objectives is for African countries to collaborate effectively and adopt common homegrown agricultural policies and programmes.

The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has already given thumbs up to the idea by Ghana's Agric Minister and has promised funding for its implementation.

Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, whose flagship agric policy "Planting for Food and Jobs" in Ghana attracted lots of interests from participants, including multinationals, development partners, investors and other stakeholders, during the course of discussions, revealed that the conference would be held early next year.

The Minister was participated in various discussions at the international conference which was under the theme "Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa".

He posited that for agriculture to realize its full potentials, African countries must unite and take on the rest of the world.

In a special one-on-one meeting with the President of the AFDB, Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, outlined his vision for transforming Ghana's ailing agricultural sector, stressing that the objectives must be linked up to the rest of Africa.

The Minister further revealed his plans to create a commodity exchange market for cocoa between African producing countries in order to create a viable market for the product and weane it off external influence.

The President of the AFDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who was full of praises for the minister, endorsed the various ideas and said he would secure funds towards their implementations.