The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has began his second term of office on a good note.
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, the Minister handed over 50 double-cabin pickups to regional and district departments of agriculture in the six new regions of Ghana.
The pickups were made available to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) through the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) initiative.
Delivering a keynote address at a ceremony held in Accra on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, to hand over the pickups, Dr. Afriyie Akoto says the pickups were to aid operational and extension activities in the sector.
According to him, “this consignment of vehicles is part of a total package of 54 pick-ups, 6 cross country vehicles and 367 motorbikes which should have been delivered by December 2020 but for the covid-19 pandemic and its effects on global activities.”
He said the vehicles fall under component 1 and 2 of the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana programme under an extended 5-year financing agreement spanning the period 2017-2021.
“It is important to add, an additional one-year no cost extension has been successfully negotiated and will end next year 2022,” he said.
The relationship between Ghana and Canada dates back to the 1960s when the two countries begun the implementation of development cooperation programmes.
Arguably, Dr. Afriyie Akoto says the agricultural sector has been a major beneficiary of that fertile relationship and we in the Ministry remain eternally grateful to Canada for the invaluable contribution to the sector.
Under the current financing agreement for the MAG programme, he said there are five components namely:
• Component 1- Strengthening of Extension services to farmers
• Component 2 – Establishing market linkages for famers
• Component 3 – Enhancing Research, Developing and reorienting agricultural colleges to be agribusiness inclined.
• Component 4 – Creating the enabling environment.
• Component 5 – Auditing, Monitoring and Evaluation of the programme for optimum results.
“Our mission here today relates to Component 1 of the agreement, which is Strengthening of Extension services to farmers. For us at the Ministry, this is a major priority of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) campaign since it is critical for achieving the objective of increased productivity and yields of strategic food crops promoted under the PFJ,” he explained.
If agriculture in Ghana will be modernised and transformed, according to him, then the farmers of this country must benefit from extension services in the form of knowledge transfer, guidance and advice in the application of modern technology, farm management practices and a new orientation of perceiving agriculture as a business.
“This is why the availability of these vehicles for Regional and District Officers inspires great hope that the new Regions and Districts will be able to render the needed services in the field to improve farming activities and bring the necessary economic benefits to farmers and the country in general.”
” There is cause for me to be excited, given that, the MAG intervention aligns fully with government’s flagship programme of PFJ
Among others I have come here therefore, to underscore the importance of presenting the vehicles to beneficiary institutions, with a simple message that you have an important responsibility to put the vehicles to the use for which they are intended. To ensure this, it is your obligation to develop a strict maintenance regime with the use of a log book for easy tracking and evaluation of the use of the vehicles by auditors. It is important that we take measures to prolong the lifespan of the vehicles in order to achieve the desired results.”
Canada High Commissioner to Ghana, Kati Csaba, in her remarks, indicated that the 50 pickups cost about Gh¢ 10 million.
She reiterated that the vehicles are expected to support agriculture extension officers to visit farmers regularly.
According to her, Canada recognized that the agriculture sector held great potential to reduce poverty in Ghana.
Canada is supporting the MAG programme to the tune of of 135 million Canadian dollars over a period of six years.
In June 2018, the MAG programme donated 216 double-cabin pickups and 3,000 motorbikes to District Agricultural Departments in Ghana.
Additionally, the MAG programme donated 16 pickups to 10 Regional Departments of Agriculture and 12 pickups to four selected National Directorates of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
By Melvin Tarlue