body-container-line-1
25.02.2017 Editorial

Planting for Food and Jobs

By Ghanaian Chronicle
Planting for Food and Jobs
25.02.2017 LISTEN

It is often said that agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. Facts and figures from our markets these days do not appear to support this assertion anymore. Declines in investments on the agriculture front over the years have resulted in a scenario, where most of our daily food supplements originate from outside the four walls of the country.

At markets, especially in Accra and other urban centres, it is disheartening to be told that crabs, for instance, come from Togo and Benin. Many Ghanaians may not be aware, but these days, plantain, cocoyam and snails are brought in from Cote d'Ivoire. onions and tomatoes trace their origins to the drought-prone countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.

In plain language, we have not done well for ourselves. And that tells much about why our local currency, the cedi, is under so much pressure. Apparently, the new administration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo does not only intend to reverse these negative trends in agriculture. The New Patriotic Party intends to exploit food production in this country as stimulus to create jobs.

At the head office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Accra, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the sector Minister, is leading a group of technocrats to unveil a comprehensive national programme to get all Ghanaians to grow food.

Dubbed: 'Planting for Food and Jobs,' the campaign aims at promoting “growth in food production, and to create jobs across the country for the teeming youth.” Under the programme to be launched by the Head of State, “all Ghanaians are encouraged to grow some cereals or vegetables on their farms or backyards.” In addition, all institutions, private and public, are to be encouraged to set up their own farms.

All the 216 District Assemblies are to drive the campaign in their localities, in collaboration with members of Parliament and departments of agriculture in their various localities. It is an all hands on deck approach along the lines of the Operation Feed Yourself and Industries concept introduced by the Acheampong regime in the early 1970s.

The Chronicle buys into the idea, and urges all Ghanaians to be willing participants of this endeavour to grow food for local consumption, and stop the slide of the cedi through food imports.

We are told, for instance, that under the programme, the production of maize, the stable food of all Ghanaians is expected increase by 30 percent. Rice will experience a total of nearly 50 percent boost in local production. Soybean, Sorghum and vegetables like tomato, onion and chili, must be produced in the back-garden, we are being urged.

We do not need any ghost to pontificate on the need to grow food to feed ourselves. The Chronicle is thrilled at the idea that there would be jobs for Agriculture Extension Officers, who have been trained at the expense of the state, and are now idling in their houses.

This country must return to the immediate post-independent era, when Ghana depended mostly on food grown from within to feed ourselves. The 'Planting for Food and Jobs' campaign, we dare state, ties in perfectly with the presidential directive on One District One Factory, in the sense that the abundance of food lends itself to agro-processing and the need to establish factories to process the surplus.

The launch of the new policy could also influence the concept of One Village One Dam, not only in the northern parts of the country, but perhaps, in the semi-arid coastal belt and other drought-prone areas of this country.

We would like to believe that like The Chronicle, most Ghanaians are waiting for the launch of the new agrarian reforms with bated breaths. We have to feed ourselves. And that means being active participants in the programme.

 

body-container-line