We want partnership for commercial agriculture - Adaklu MP

Mr Kwame Agbodza, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adaklu, has appealed to the investor community to partner the Adaklu District to go into commercial agriculture.

He said Adaklu had large tracts of arable lands good for all types of crops and beckoned investors to help the District develop its agricultural potential.

Mr Agbodza said the District’s nearness to Ho, the Volta Regional capital, was an added advantage and challenged local and foreign investors to turn to Adaklu for mutual benefit.

The MP made the appeal at this year’s Farmers Day celebration in Adaklu on the theme: “Agriculture: Moving Ghana Beyond Aid,” and urged government to commit more resources to agriculture, just as it did for the oil sector, to create jobs.

Mr Phanuel Donkor Kadey, the Adaklu District Chief Executive, said globalisation was providing farmers the opportunity to do business and earn foreign exchange for their countries and advised those in Ghana to modernise their farming to take full advantage of such opportunities.

He hinted of the Assembly's plans to set up a District Centre for Agriculture Commence and Technology to promote agribusiness.

He said there had been a significant increase in the number of people who registered under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, which started with 444 in 2017 to 2,853 in 2018, and asked the beneficiaries to take the project seriously to enhance their lots.

Mr Kadey said the District would venture into cashew production, next year, where a total of 120,000 seedlings would be nursed and distributed to interested farmers.

Mr Philip Akator, the District Director of Agriculture, advised the farmers to adopt environmentally-friendly approaches to their farming activities if the land was to continue supporting food production.

He called on the farmers to aspire to go beyond the District Awards Scheme to the national level to serve as encouragement to upcoming farmers.

Agbedo Fredrick, 34, from Hlihave, was adjudged the District Best Farmer with a 100-acre maize farm, 20 acres of cassava and six acres of vegetables among other crops and livestock.

Mr Hopeson Deladem Sebutor, 30, from Kodzobi, won the Best District Fish Farmer while 63-year old Attakuma Wisdom from Helekpe and Madam Patience Ahorndey, 35, from Sofa were adjudged District Best Physically Challenged Farmer and District Best Female Enterprising Farmer respectively.