The Member of Parliament for the Obuasi East constituency Hon Dr. Patrick Boakye Yiadom has predicted that the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs program which was launched recently by THE President His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo has the potential of ending hunger.
Speaking at the 39th National Farmers’day held at Mampamhwe in the Obuasi East District, the Mp said the Phase Two of the Programme which seeks to improve service delivery to maximise impact, and substitutes direct input subsidy with smart agricultural financial support in the form of comprehensive input credit, with provision for in-kind payment, will help to achieve UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of ending hunger by 2030.
The phase II of the PFJ seeks to consolidate the gains made in the first phase of the program which was launched in 2017. Phase II of PFJ include an input credit system that provides farmers with access to inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and other support services for improving productivity and yield as well as storage infrastructure and logistic hub to improve storage and distribution of produce to reduce post-harvest losses.
Additionally, it also includes off-taker arrangements/commodity trading to improve farmer access to markets which guarantees fair prices for crops; and a digitized platform for management, monitoring and coordination to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme.
He admonished Ghanaians especially the youth to take advantage of the various interventions rolled out by government in the Agric sector to venture into farming.” Government has a deliberate plan to create jobs and improve the economy leveraging the Agric sector, we must all get involved and move the nation forward.
Speaking about the the theme for this year’s edition of Farmers’ Day “Delivering Smart Solutions for sustainable food security and resilience”, the Chief Executive for the Obuasi East District Hon Faustina Amissah said it was to emphasize on the successes chalked over the years in the Agric sector.
She commended farmers in the district for braving the storm and producing more to feed the people. ” I know your work comes with a lot of challenges but I am happy to say, regardless you still work hard to put food on our tables”.
Hon. Amissah encouraged women and the youth to develop an interest in Agriculture stressing that the government has put measures in place to make it attractive for them.
In all 15 farmers were awarded in the Obuasi East District. There were awards for the Best women farmer and the Best youth farmer.
60-year-old farmer from Nyamesomede Kwadwo Kyei was crowned the 2023 District Best Farmer. The retired miner took home a 40-inch LED TV, Motorised Tricycles (Aboboyaa), 2 Wellington Boots, 2 pieces of GTP wax print, 5 boxes of Key soap, 2 Knapsack sprayers, 10 machetes, and 1box of Sunphosate Glyphosate Weedicide and 1 brush cutter, all sponsored by AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine.
Peter Builiama, the Chief Executive officer of Big Piero Company Limited, a tailing construction firm donated a Motor tricycle to the Best woman farmer in the district. He said the donation was to motivate more women to develop an interest in farming.