Multi-stakeholders hold forum on cotton
Research scientists, agricultural experts, business entities, ministries, departments and parliamentarians as well as farmers and industry players in the cotton sector are attending a strategic conference on cotton in Tamale.
The four-day conference would seek to construct a comprehensive strategy to revamp the cotton industry and make it a potent tool for alleviating poverty and revitalize the ailing textile industry.
The forum is being organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agricultural under the theme: “Developing a long term strategy for cotton industry in Ghana”.
Opening the conference, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Mr. Mahama Ayariga urged the conference to take a comprehensive look at the entire cotton industry and to come out with a strategy to revamp the sector.
He said the three Northern regions must be put on a better footing through the integration of the cotton industry into the activities of the Savannah Accelerated Development Programme (SADA) aimed at alleviating poverty.
Mr. Ayariga said the Northern Regions which used to be the food basket of the country had now become the net importer of foodstuff, adding, the problem had largely been blamed on inappropriate agricultural policies.
He said due to the low production of cotton in the country, some textile companies in Ghana import cotton from Burkina Faso though Ghana has the capacity to produce enough cotton to meet its demand.
Mr. Ayariga said many investors had expressed interest in the country’s cotton industry and efforts were being made to attract them into the country saying that the Ministry was very prepared and ready to revive the industry.
He said the cotton industry if revamped, could attract huge income for the country comparable to the cocoa sector.
Mr. Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister, said the Northern Region had very fertile soil good for agriculture purposes and that in the 1970s, it achieved fame when there was massive investment in the rice and cotton industries.
He said since then, little efforts had been made in the sector adding that; “The dug-out dams built in the 1960s have never seen rehabilitation and consequently had either been washed away or have silted”.
He urged the stakeholders to evolve strategies that would make the seven month long dry season period during which farmers were ideal, profitable through irrigation farming.
Source: GNA