According to Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a former minister of food and agriculture, when given the necessary push, agriculture has the greatest potential of any resource to change the nation's fortunes.
To ensure that the agricultural sector's potential was realized for the socioeconomic development of the country, he explained that, if given the go-ahead to serve as the country's president, he would provide the necessary resources and tap into the eagerness of the country's ever-ready and diligent farmers.
This was said by Dr. Akoto, who just resigned as the minister of food and agriculture, on Saturday in Accra at a meeting with editors and top journalists from all around the nation.
public speech
Dr. Akoto utilized the interaction to update the media on a public lecture he would speak on the "Future of the Ghanaian Economy" at the University of Professional Studies-Accra (UPSA) today at 2 p.m.
He stated: "I am still a very strong supporter of this government and am still working for the government, albeit not at the post," making it clear that the Akufo-Addo-led administration had accomplished remarkable things but had also been affected by global challenges.
The two-time former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso claimed that the NPP administration led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo gave the agricultural sector priority when allocating public funds, which is what led to the success of the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative.
Dr. Akoto, who has over two decades of experience working for the UN and has had the chance to travel to most of the world's nations, described Ghanaian farmers as dedicated individuals who will go above and beyond when given even the smallest incentive.
This is a supply that needs to be fully used. The nation and the farmers themselves would greatly profit if their willingness and labor were better used, he said.
PFJ
About his creation, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), he mentioned his experience with its execution, saying that it provided farmers with subsidies in the form of seeds and fertilizer.
He said that to obtain a precise and factual image of the farmers in the nation, he conducted the first agricultural census in 28 years in 2018, which found that there were 3.1 million full-time farmers in the nation.
According to Dr. Akoto, 1.7 million farmers had benefited from the PFJ by 2021, which helped agriculture achieve the Fourth Republic's greatest growth rate of 8.4%.
He continued by saying that while PFJ was active throughout COVID-19, when nations were under lockdown, Ghana's agriculture sector saw growth of 7.4%.
"The farmer in Ghana is someone else; a resource that is just ready to be used. I believe that providing incentives will be essential to the nation's economy's development.
"The farmer in Ghana is someone else; a resource that is just ready to be used. Giving these farmers incentives to create surpluses and foreign exchange that will support industrial growth, education, health care, and everything else is how I see the future of this nation's economy developing, continued Dr. Akoto.
tree harvest
He said that the Tree Crop Development Authority, which he helped form, could produce between six and twelve billion dollars yearly once fully operational, exceeding the three billion dollars the government planned to request from the IMF (IMF).
He said that with the correct funding, both the Ghana Cocobod and the Tree Crop Development Authority will provide resources sufficient to carry out the nation's development agenda without exceeding their financial capacity.
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