Ghana Planting for Food and Job policy to cost GH¢560m – Afriyie Akoto
The government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by President Nana Akufo-Addo will roll out an agriculture policy for food production and jobs.
The Planting for Food and Job policy expected to start this year is expected to cost GH¢560 million and generate GH¢1.3 billion gross revenue for participating farmers in its first year, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr. Afriyie Akoto has announced.
Speaking at a two-day summit organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Feed the Future Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) project, Mr. Afriyie said, the policy is very important but equally more so the jobs that it will create for the teeming unemployed youth.
“Unemployment in this country is almost at the crisis level. Graduates from the universities and colleges can’t find jobs to do and that is a threat to the social fabric of this country. The youth unemployment rate in Ghana’s capital, Accra put at 30 per cent, is the highest youth unemployment rate in the world.
The unemployment rate in Ghana declined to 5.20 per cent in 2013 from 5.96 percent in 2010. The rate averaged 8.82 per cent from 2001 until 2013, and then rising 12.90 per cent in 2005, before dropping to 5.20 per cent in 2013.
“If we allow it to go on for another five or ten years, we will be in a very serious trouble,” he added.
He noted that the size of the manufacturing industry in the country is sinking and the only remedy to solve this increasing unemployment rate is agriculture.
Mr. Afriyie Akoto however, said five crops: Soya, rice, maize, sorghum and vegetables will be the main focus of the policy and 200,000 farmers will be targeted in the next two months to begin the project for this year.
The 200,000 farmers selected from the nearly five million farmers in the country will be provided, with fertilizers, logistics, an e-platform and extension services to enhance their work.
The policy is also expected to create750,000 jobs in the first year and when it is successful it will be extended to 2020 to catch at least half of the population of the five million farmers in the country by the end of the four years.
The aim of the summit was to discuss current achievements and challenges in meeting the goals of the government’s shared growth and development agenda and the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative – Feed the Future.
“The government of Ghana is one of our important partners in our quest to advance Ghana’s economy and agricultural growth. The United States government is committed to working with the Ghana government to address the challenges in the agricultural sector,” Mr Steven E. Hendrix, the Deputy Mission Director (USAID) said.
President Akufo-Addo in his first State of the Nation Address said the government has secured Canadian $125 million to support the “Planting for food and jobs” campaign to popularize farming and encourage many people to take agriculture as a full or part time activity.
By Pamela Ofori-Boateng
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