Accra, March 13, - Dr Gyiele
Naruh, the Minister of State in charge of Agriculture, on Tuesday said the
Government was leading efforts at balancing agriculture production with value
addition to spearhead the attainment of a Ghana beyond Aid.
He said the agriculture value
added percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Ghana, as reported by the
World Bank for 2016, was 19.6 per cent and that was not good enough for a
well-endowed nation like Ghana.
He said the Government had,
therefore, rolled out a critical programme like the Planting for Food and Jobs,
a flagship policy that was changing the face of agricultural production in the
country.
Dr Nura said this at media
briefing and event launch of the Value Added Agriculture Expo West Africa in
Accra, to be held in Ghana from August 2 to 4, 2018.
Dr Nurah said through the
Planting for Food and Jobs Programme that was started last year with a seed
capital of GHC560 million, close to 200,000 farmers had been empowered by
providing them with fertilisers, improved seeds and other farming inputs.
“We have created 745,000 jobs in
just a little over one year of the programme. These jobs, from our research
findings, were in the areas of input supply, farm level production,
post-harvest activities including storage, marketing and processing, and the
distribution of the output,” he said.
He said the Programme, which was
very dear to the heart of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, would help
address the declining growth of the agricultural sector, with the ultimate goal
of getting Ghanaians to embrace it as a full-time business.
Dr Nurah said Ghana also needed
to stop shipping valuable raw materials accruing next to nothing adding; “We
must develop value chains that will make all the difference in our earning from
the rich resources of our land. And the time to begin is now.”
“This is the only way to go if we
really want to increase the market value of agricultural products, feed
ourselves and create more jobs,” he said.
He welcomed the Expo, saying it
would bring the best in the industry to the limelight, create a good platform
for exchange and networking among industry players, and offer the opportunity
to foster business relationships and partnerships.
Dr Nurah said the introduction of
modern technology had also been acknowledged as a very important factor in
doubling productivity, which o would
help bring a lasting turn-around result in the country’s agriculture sector.
The Expo, the first to be held in
West Africa, would be the largest exhibition, promoting “farm to fork”
solutions in value added agriculture and aquaculture.
Reed Exhibition, a UK-based event
organiser, with an office in South Africa, is collaborating with the Ministry
of Food and Agriculture and the other sponsors to host the exhibition in Ghana.
The event would cover the full
value chain in agriculture business, showcasing input, livestock care solutions
to farmers and agro processing best practices to increase the production ratio
to input.
Mr Ron Strikker, the Ambassador
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, platinum sponsors of the exhibition,
commended the Government of Ghana for according high priority to the
agriculture sector.
He said the initiatives including
the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign, placing agriculture in a prominent
position in the 2018 Budget, as well as the upcoming Marshall Plan for the
sector were great examples.
“The Netherlands strongly
supports this, and as one of the world’s leaders in agriculture, we have a lot
to offer, knowledge, technology and innovation,” Mr Strikker said.
He expressed the hope that the
exhibition would help bring the needed transformation of Ghana’s agriculture in
a modern and dynamic base of the economy, making it attractive for
entrepreneurs and investors and providing jobs for its teeming youth.
Ms Adele Eloff, Africa Manager of
Reed Exhibitions, said the show, which would be an annual event in Ghana, would
bring together all the major players offering products and services to the
industry.
This is to take the agricultural
sector to the next level, since value addition is key to every country to
ensure the right growth for the sector, Ms Eloff said.
Other sponsors of the programme
include Interplast, Barclays Bank, and Mel Consulting firm.
GNA
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