Madam Juliana Kpedekpo, the Adaklu District Chief Executive (DCE) has appealed to investors to collaborate with the Adaklu District Assembly to harness the full potential in the agricultural sector in the district.
She said as the Assembly vigorously pursued the implementation of the second phase of the government’s flagship agricultural programme, Planting for Food and Jobs; it was imperative it collaborated with investors to enable it to give the needed assistance to farmers to enable them to turn the vast arable lands into farms.
Madam Kpedekpo made the appeal through the Ghana News Agency in an interview, on the sidelines of the 39th Adaklu district farmers day celebration at Adaklu Torda.
She stated that under the second phase of the programme, government would provide inputs credit system that would provide farmers with access to inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, weedicides and pesticides.
The DCE mentioned other elements of the programme as support services, such as mechanization and extension services, storage infrastructure and logistics hub.
The rest she said were off-taker arrangements/commodity taking, digitized platform for members, monitoring and coordination.
Madam Kpedekpo noted that the agricultural sector had transitioned through different phases and was being developed gradually to meet the technological standards of the western world.
“The government is working around the clock to transform our agriculture from the usual subsistence farming approach to agribusiness approach,” she stated.
The DCE urged policy makers, implementors and business professionals along the agricultural value chain to build synergies through the effective collaboration of stakeholders which was essential in achieving the needed goals in the sector.
She noted that issues of land ownership, limited access to market and financial services, effects of climate change, post-harvest losses, high cost of inputs and low return on investments were some key challenges facing farmers.
Madam Kpedekpo said the institution of the farmers day was unique as it would not only celebrate farmers “but also grant us as a people a collective opportunity to identify key challenges in the agricultural sector that may be peculiar to our localities.”
The Adaklu District Best Farmer award was won by Mr Moses Ekpe from Adaklu Anfoe and was given a tricycle among other agricultural implements.
GNA
