Dr. John Kofi Mensah
JOHN Kofi Mensah, Managing Director (MD) of the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) has urged government to make the bank the receiver of all bulk concessional funding in the country.
He said this would enable the bank to increase its support for farmers and fishers nationwide to develop the agriculture sector.
His call comes on the back of Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Food and Agriculture Minister’s appeal to the management of ADB to increase the bank’s support to the agriculture sector to boost production.
Dr. Mensah, speaking at a short ceremony to present the bank’s cash prize of GH¢600,000 to the 2021 National Best Farmer, Mashud Muhammed, in Accra, said government must make this possible.
The MD said the bank remained committed to ensuring that the agriculture sector continued to play its critical role in the national economy.
He said since the launch of the government’s flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme, it had supported with GH¢100 million for the purchase of fertilisers and certified seeds.
He said last year, the bank approved a total working capital of GH¢160 million to the National
Food Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), to buy excess produce from farmers under the PFJ to support the school feeding programme.
He added that within the last four years, the bank has approved a total working capital of
GH¢300 million to the NAFCO to purchase mainly grains under the PFJ.
Dr. Mensah assured the bank would collaborate with the MoFA and other stakeholders to address challenges facing the poultry industry in the country.
He disclosed that the bank, through its corporate social responsibility budget, would embark on youth entrepreneurship support programme this year, to equip the young ones with the requisite skills to enable them venture into the agriculture sector.
Dr. Akoto, the Food and Agriculture Minister, said he was saddened by the little interest shown by some banks in agriculture despite its prospects. He said despite the numerous benefits the PFJ for instance, had presented banks, especially, commercial banks had failed to take advantage of it and invest in the sector.
“It saddens me because there should be a partnership between the commercial banks and government,” he stressed. – GNA