Former Agric Minister and NPP flagbearer hopeful, Dr Afriyie Akoto, has called on banks for financial support in his quest to transform the country through Agriculture, if given the nod as the President of the Republic.
He believes the banks can entrust him with their financial resources given his achievements in the Agricultural sector during his tenure as the sector Minister.
Addressing a gathering at the University of Professional Studies, Accra on March 13, 2023, during the launch of his campaign to contest in the upcoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries, he mentioned that: “The government made significant Investment in farm inputs in order to increase agricultural productivity to raise, incomes of farmers, and to achieve national food security. The Ministry procured and distributed 1.4 million MT of fertilizer and 93,192 MT of improved seeds which were distributed to over 1.7 million farmers from 2017 to 2021.
“As a result of these measures, Maize yields increased from 1.8mt/ha to 3.0mt/ha; Rice yield increased from 2.7mt/ha to 4.0mt/ha and Soya yield increased from 1Mt/ha to 2.5Mt/ha, in the period from 2017 to 2021. With Planting For Food and Jobs (PFJ) intervention, production of maize has risen from 1.7 million MT in 2016 to 3.6 million MT in 2021, Rice from 688,000MT to 1.2 million MT, and soya from 143,000MT to 230,000MT over the same period,” he added.
While acknowledging that there is a lot of room for improvement in the PFJ, the Minister noted that the “stories that I have shared provide some evidence that the implementation of the program has been a resounding success.”
“As indicated earlier Government expenditure on improved seeds and fertilizers amounted to 2.6 billion Ghana Cedis in the period 2017-2021. To optimize the gains from such investments, we must further invest in the education of farmers, wherever they are in the country,” he noted further.
Touting these achievements and more, he concluded that “all banks should be giving him money to develop the sector.”
Dr Akoto’s highly centered on developing the country through Agriculture. During the campaign launch, he expressed the optimism that the agric sector will take Ghana out of its economic woes.
Speaking at the launch of his flagbearership campaign at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) said “I strongly believe Agriculture will lift Ghana out of poverty.”
According to him, the sector will as well “assure us not only food and nutrition security but also generate the necessary resources for the development of the other sectors including industry, health, education and infrastructural medium to long term.”