Tree harvesting will bring the nation $ 14 billion annually

Business news for Saturday, November 7, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-11-07

The tree crop industry will bring the nation $ 14 billion annually, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced on Friday.
He explained that the Government was investing heavily in tree crops and very soon the nation would generate two billion dollars each from the export of cashew nuts, coffee, shea, mango, coconut, rubber and oil palm annually.
President Akufo-Addo said this when he addressed the 36th National Farmers Day in Techiman, in the Bono Este region.
It was on the topic: “Ensuring the development of agribusiness under COVID-19: Opportunities and challenges.”
It was held at the Techiman Methodist Park and was attended by Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, agricultural product processing companies, farmers, and local and foreign investors.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the performance of the agricultural sector was extremely poor and below the African Union target for member states since he took office in 2017.
His government, therefore, made bold decisions to improve the sector, improve national food security, diversify agricultural export earnings, and create jobs for youth.
That decision, the president said, spawned Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), which since 2018 had invested heavily in seed and fertilizer subsidies for farmers.
President Akufo-Addo said the successful implementation of FSY had made the nation a net food exporter, with 50 percent of local rice production meeting domestic demand.
He said the nation had finalized a concession agreement with India and the Czech Republic for the import of tractors and agricultural processing machines and inputs to sell to farmers at subsidized prices.
The government has also built 81,000 capacity warehouses across the country to address post-harvest losses and improve marketing of agricultural products.
President Akufo-Addo said his government had also hired some 2,700 agricultural extension officers and was determined to meet the United Nations standard of one extension officer for 500 farmers in his next government.
The government would also invest in the greenhouse sector, which had the potential to boost the nation’s foreign income earnings in the coming years.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister of Food and Agriculture, said the government spent GHC600 million on FSY this year.
The amount was invested in subsidies for fertilizers and seeds for the more than 1.5 million farmers benefiting from the program, he said.
Dr. Akoto said that no government has invested much in the agricultural sector than the Akufo-Addo-led government, hence the need for farmers to vote to keep the New Patriotic Party in power in the 2020 elections.
Ms. Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, recognized the Government’s commitment to transforming the sector and assured that the Ministry will continue to collaborate with partners to make agriculture contribute significantly to national growth.
Solomon Kwadwo Kusi, a 55-year-old farmer from the western region’s Jomoro district, was awarded the 2020 National Best Farmer award and received a cash prize of 570,000 GHC.
Nana Kofi Drobo IV, a farmer from Wenchi, and Mahamudu Mohammed Awal, a farmer from the North Region, were the first and second finalists, respectively.
Nana Drobo received a tractor and some farm inputs, while Mr. Awal had a Nissan Pickup in addition to farm inputs.