THE MINISTER for Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has inaugurated a new 10-member Grains and Legumes Development Board in Accra.
At a brief ceremony held at MOFA, the board members, drawn from various state and private institutions, undertook the oaths of office and secrecy which was administered by the sector minister.
In his remarks shortly after swearing in the members, Dr. Akoto intimated that the Board, since it was created around 1971 under Prime Minister Dr. Busia, “has fallen into inactivity for most of its years” and failed to live up to its bidding.
With its presence not significantly felt in the country, “You have a big responsibility to revive an organisation that has been in virtual comatose for many years”, the Minister charged the board.
On his part, Chairman for the newly inaugurated Grains and Legumes Development Board, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, acknowledged that he and his team understood the importance of agriculture being the backbone of Ghana’s economy which employs about 60 per cent of the county’s workforce.
He, therefore, assured that: “We will work assiduously to fashion out policies and strategies to augment government’s efforts in promoting agriculture while improving the lives of the citizenry.”
Seeds, he added, would be made readily available to all farmers nationwide while the Board would promote support for the government’s planting for food and jobs initiative among other important initiatives.
In making a solemn promise to the Minister, Mr. Acquah said: “This is a board that is not too enviable due to its current state. But someone of us has taken the challenge and I promise the Minister that by the end of our tenure, we will make this board an enviable one.”
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio