The Kwahu South Municipal Assembly in the Eastern Region has held its parts of the National Farmers Day at Adawso.
This year’s farmers’ celebration under the theme “Accelerating agricultural development through value addition” forms part of preparations to pave way for the National Farmers days which the Eastern Region has been given the slot to host the maiden 38th edition in Koforidua Jubilee Park to appreciate the efforts of Ghanaian farmers contributing to the socioeconomic growth of the country.
The theme was carefully chosen to reflect the current economic hikes. It captures the main concerns of citizens and the government’s vision of promoting Agro-processing and prevention. It’s also aimed at reducing post-harvest losses, stabilizing prices throughout the year and increasing Farmers’ income as well as standard of living.
Addressing the gathering at Adawso, the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Emmanuel Atta Ofori Snr. (Emmata), commended farmers for their immense commitment to Agriculture in the Municipality. The MCE further urged the youth not to rely on the government or white colour jobs for survival.
“I’m happy to be part of the 38th Farmers Day Celebration in honour of our selfless Farmers and Fisher folks who toil year and year to ensure we have food for our nourishment in the Municipality and the country as large. It’s only therefore appropriate that we gather here once again to honour this occasion at Kwahu Adawso which represents one of the key food baskets of the Municipality”,
Giving the economic dimensions of the country, the MCE stated that the global financial crisis has not spared the Ghanaian economy.
He said, despite this, the hard work of Ghanaian farmers has ensured food security and cannot be overemphasized.
However, the number of awards categories has been reduced to be in line with the President’s directive to reduce public expenditure to contain the situation.
The MCE disclosed that the Assembly has plans to build an Onion Storage and Packaging facility at Adawso and Kwahu Amanfrom to enhance onion production in the areas.
He added that fertilizer supplying challenges which affect the smooth implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs will soon be addressed.
Giving agricultural statistics of the Municipality, the MCE revealed that the fight against the Fall Army worm has been on the decline since the Assembly embarked on public education by the Agric officers of the Assembly.
This year alone, 310 hectares were infested as against 349 hectares last year. All infested fields were recovered due to the timely supply of insecticides by the government and distributed to the affected farmers to control the fall army worms.
Under the Planting for Food and Jobs, a total of 46,000 seedlings of Coconut and Oil palm were received from the Tree Crop development authority and the Minerals Commission respectively.
These seedlings were distributed to 506 farmers including 379 males and 127 females across the Municipality. About 306 hectares have been planted and this is expected to make available raw materials for Agro-based industries and create more jobs for the Municipality.
To promote Agric business opportunities in the Municipality, Assembly through the Agric department took part in a 2-day Eastern Regional Agro business investors conference and exhibition organized by the Regional Coordinating Council on the 14th and 15th of September 2022 under the theme “Achieving Agriculture industrialization through easy commodity stabilized market”.
The objective is to improve value addition to most farm produce through Agro Processing, packaging, and creation of market linkage and to show the potential of the Municipality as one of the Agricultural hubs of the region.
The Assembly has also constructed a new office complex to house the business resource. This office is a one-stop enterprise to support small and medium-scale enterprises. The facility is expected to provide a wide range of business development serves such as business registrations.
The MCE acknowledged the fact that some significant gains have been made over the years to improve the Agric sector, some challenges including poor roads, infrastructure, declaring of soil fertility, low adoption of improved technologies by farmers, inadequate value addition to farm produce, livestock diseases and post-harvest loses still remains.
The Assembly is also making efforts to establish permanent precincts of the Fisheries department in the Municipality.
