Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has disclosed plans to make agriculture appealing to the youth of Ghana.
According to Mr. Mahama, this is a conscious effort by his government to create more jobs for the young people in the country.
Speaking at a special public lecture titled “An Interaction with Students and Faculty of WIUC-Ghana” held at Wisconsin International University College in Accra on Wednesday, April 4, 2024, he emphasized that agriculture is a key pillar of the Ghanaian economy and requires significant attention.
“One other area I find critical in our job creation policy is the agricultural and agribusiness sectors. As a farmer myself, I strongly identify agriculture as a major backbone of the Ghanaian economy. Agriculture and all its forms from crop farming, fishing, animal rearing, among others, continue to be an avenue for employment amongst the young people of our country,” he stated.
“As part of our job creation in the agricultural sector, we will strategically diversify the agricultural landscape and tap into new market opportunities. We intend to make agriculture sexy and cool,” he said.
He added that his government will revolutionise the agricultural sector, as they will shift from the old farming practices, and focus on mechanized ones.
“We’re gonna move away from the hoe and cutlass agriculture. We will create farmer service centres so young agricultural entrepreneurs who want to go into framing will receive all the services they need from the farmer’s service centre. While they are receiving those services, we’ll teach them to use the equipment themselves as well as all the agricultural extension knowledge that they need so that they create a good income for themselves. Aside from that, we’ll also introduce modern agricultural techniques.”
