The Overlord of Dagbon Traditional Area, Ndan Ya-Na Abukari II, has praised the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo for his massive development of the Agricultural sector in the country.
Speaking through the Registrar, Mr. Abdul Fataw Alhassan said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) initiative of planting for food and jobs, One Village One Dam and many other initiatives have yielded positive results in improving yield.
Mr. Alhassan said the youth of Dagbon are ready to collaborate with the numerous government initiatives in the Agriculture sector to produce food and livestock to enhance Ghana’s.
He used the occasion to praise the National Best Farmer for 2021, 44-year-old Alhaji Mohammed Mashud, who is an indigene of Dagbon and from hails from Mion District in the Northern Region.
He said the award was for the people of Dagbon, thus urging the youth in Dagbon township and the country as a whole to emulate the achievement of the national best farmer.
“This award is for the people of Dagbon, and we call on the youth of Dagbon especially, Ghana as a whole to emulate him.”
The registrar of the Dagbon State made the commendation when the Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr Akoto Owusu Afriyie, called on him at the Gbewa Palace on Sunday, December 5, 2021.
Dr Akoto Owusu Afriyie is on a week-tour of the five regions in northern Ghana, and it forms part of phase three of his annual agricultural tour across the
He assured the agriculture minister of the Dagbon Traditional Council’s readiness to work with MoFA to ensure that the government’s vision for the agriculture sector is achieved.
He also applauded the government for its Fertilizer Improvement Policy, expressing his delights at the enormous benefit to farmers in Dagbon.
While congratulating the minister’s re-appointment, lamented that northern Ghana was still lagging behind when it comes to development, that it was sad that a greater percentage of their arable lands were left with less attention in terms of usage.
“I know your re-appointment was purely on merit through your good works for mother Ghana, particularly your excellent performance at the ministry for the past four years,” he noted.
For his part, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Akoto Owusu Afriyie, said his visit was part of his annual tour of all the 16 regions to interact with stakeholders in the sector.
“I am on a working tour of the five regions to ascertain the progress of government’s continuous projects in the agriculture sector,” he said.
According to him, the five regions in northern Ghana (Northern Savannah, North East, Upper East & West) were very important when it comes to his portfolio as the agriculture minister.
He gave the assurance that he will continue to ensure that the needed infrastructures and projects to alleviate poverty and boost the country’s agriculture were in place.
“Let me also congratulate the National Best Farmer who happens to be from this land,” he expressed.
In the estimation of Dr Afriyie, the amount of resources allocated to the agriculture sector by the Akufo-Addo administration cannot be matched since independence, adding that this has made Ghana to become the “food basket of Africa.”
On the Savannah Zone Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project (SAPIP) which is funded by African Development Bank, he stated is aimed at absorbing the youth into the agriculture sector in the five regions.
“We have picked Savannah Investment Programme (SIP) to promote livestock’s farming in the country, especially in the northern regions,” he said.
The minister’s one-week tour will take him to Northern, North East, Upper East, Upper West and Savannah Regions, and it will afford him the opportunity to engage farmers to know their performances and challenges.
