President Nana Akufo Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday indicated that the majority of the jobs Ghanaians are expecting his administration to create would come from the agriculture sector.
Addressing journalists at the Presidency on achievements chalked by his administration since taking office six months ago, the President noted that agriculture would necessarily have to provide the majority of the jobs, hence the need to pay urgent attention to the modernization of agricultural practices.
“Extension officers are being employed for the first time in many years to provide hands-on support to farmers, and we are generally paying extra attention to every stage of farming.
“The One-Village, One Dam scheme is taking off in the three northern regions with the rehabilitation of the existing ones that are in sad states of disrepair. Planting for Food and Jobs, one of our flagship initiatives, has also started with increasing enthusiasm.”
Patronage
He said the programme has registered 185,000 farmers out of the 200,000 targeted, adding that government was bearing 50 percent of the cost of fertiliser for farmers, while eighty thousand and thirty seven (80,037) tonnes of fertiliser have been distributed to farmers enrolled on the programme. “Thirty five thousand seven hundred and forty seven (35,747) metric tonnes of seedlings have also been supplied to farmers. It is noteworthy that many of the suggestions for the 1-district-1-factory initiative are agriculture based, and that tells me that my many sermons on agriculture and food processing as the basis for our industrial take-off are finding many converts.”
Diseases
He said over the years, several diseases such as the swollen shoot, black pod and mealy bugs had attacked Ghana’s agriculture, with the latest being the fall army worm invasion which is ravaging farmlands across Africa.
“Government is fully aware of the infestation. Our statistics indicate that it has affected one hundred and twelve thousand eight hundred and twelve (112,812) hectares of land.
“So far, 14,420 hectares of land have been destroyed. In dealing with this menace, government has mobilised support for farmers by supplying them with seventy two thousand seven hundred and seventy four (72,774) litres of insecticide. More are in the pipeline to confront effectively this scourge.”
Macro-economy
Commenting on this, he said the macroeconomic indices were beginning to show a turn for the better. “The Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) of the Bank of Ghana has been cut from 25.5 percent to 22.5 percent in the first half of the year. Inflation has gone down from 15.4 percent in December 2016 to 12.1 percent in June 2017, i.e. a period of six months, the lowest in four years. The benchmark 91-day Treasury bill (T-bill) rate was 22.8 percent in January last year, and has narrowed to 11.9 percent in June 2017, the lowest in 5 years.”
He said government was encouraged by the gradual decline in the cost of borrowing and the increase in banks’ credit to the private sector by nearly 6 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared to a decline of about 7 percent in the same period in 2016.
“But we have to continue to work to bring down the cost of borrowing to enable businesses to have access to much needed credit. It is my hope and expectation that these statistics will soon translate into tangible benefits in the lives of Ghanaians.”
By Samuel Boadi