Planting for jobs and investment policy to be unveiled

Government will soon launch a key intervention policy dubbed "Planting for Jobs and Investment" which will mainly cover cash crops consisting of cocoa, cashew, mango, shea, citrus, palm oil and rubber.

The policy comes as a subsidiary of its flagship, “Planting for Food and Jobs Policy” which is geared towards creating jobs for the youth and boosting national revenue.

The programme is a collaboration between the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).

Under the programme, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA’s) are to undertake an agricultural project with a budget that would support 10,000 to 20,000 farmers in cultivating an average of 10 acres of cash crops within a period of four to 10 years.

Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Collins Ntim, who announced this during a sensitization forum said, MMDAs would establish seed banks in district areas that would raise improved and high yielding varieties of seedlings approved for farmers.

He said his outfit is ready to support and register famers across all districts, while a biometric data base and global position system (GPS) mapping on all farmers, their farms and plantations would also be established.

Ntim also noted that the MMDAs will recruit between 100 to 200 youth in every district, who would be trained to support famers in planting varieties of seedlings.

District Centres for Agriculture, Commerce and Technology (DCACT) will also be established in all assemblies to attract investment in agro processing at the district levels, as well as establishing a district agriculture pension trust.

‘’This project seeks to position Ghana as a leading producer of cocoa, cashew and other cash crops in the world,’’ he said.

He reminded all MMDAs that, by the end of September 2017, they are expected to submit their project proposals and budgets to the MLGRD for harmonization.