Greeners Foundation outlines step to revitalize agriculture among the youth in Ghana

Greeners Foundation, Ghana, an agricultural education, youth and women empowerment centre in the Kwahu Afram Plains of the Eastern region has joined the call and the movement for revitalizing the agriculture sector and making it attractive for the Ghanaian youth and women.

The Executive Director, Abass Iddrisu, believe that supporting schools and prisons centres, the rural youth and women in Ghana to have gardens where they can learn farming practices is an important way of supporting the country’s agriculture advancement agenda.

Speaking on Rite FM’s Morning Ride Show Captain Adabugah, he outlined the objectives and the activities of the foundation and stated that in the next two to three years starting in January, 2019 the foundation would adopt five basic schools each in communities in the Kwahu Afram Plains North and South districts and the Kwaebibirem municipal. He stated that this is to train the students in backyard gardening and also supplement their school feeding programme with whatever crops they practice with mostly the vegetables.

The focus on the prisons centres would be also rolled as the school gardening programme after the collaboration and permit from the service. The foundation is also in talks with the chiefs and the districts to acquire land where it would site its training and empowerment centre where trainees would be taken through crops and animals production and other non-traditional farm productions, business idea, development and coaching and this would create a source of employment for the teeming youth and women in the areas they will operate.

These steps have become necessary and there is the need for all stakeholders to support the agenda of reviving the agriculture sector and to harnessing its full potential and contribution to the growth of Ghana.

The falling standards of the agriculture education in the school curriculum is worrying and having a negative impact on the future of the Ghanaian agriculture sector. On the part of the Ghana prison centres most of them are strategically positioned to harness agriculture potentials and also help in training the inmates in the practices of agriculture.

These inmates can also contribute their labour force to supplement the government subventions and same time acquires skills for employment after their release from the centres.

Through this Greeners Foundation, Ghana would provide technical and operations support in the training and skill development.

The sustainability of the agriculture sector depends on the youth and women most and we must do all that is possible to lure them into the sector. The Executive Director also called for individual and co-operate bodies support to lure more schools, the youth and women into agriculture and its related businesses.