President Akufo-Addo has indicated that the Government of Ghana has made substantial investments to boost the productivity of the agricultural sector.
According to him, the Government made this effort to sustain the livelihoods of Ghanaian indigenes making a living out of agriculture.
He said this when delivering the 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Parliament House to communicate the various achievements, challenges, and way forward.
“Mr. Speaker, Government is determined to make our country the place where hard work pays good dividends. We have made substantial investments in the agricultural sector, for example, because we recognize this is where a substantial number of people make a living,” he said.
Speaking on the successes chalked so far by his administration, Akufo-Addo mentioned that Planting for Food and Jobs has served as a transformational policy in changing the lives of farmers in Ghana.
In furtherance to his speech, he disclosed the relevance of the irrigation scheme implemented by the government to make lands irrigable.
He said, “The result of significant investment by my government in the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project has resulted in the availability of a total of 13,190 hectares of additional irrigable land, through the rehabilitation of Tono, Kpong Left Bank and Kpong Irrigation Schemes, for rice and vegetable cultivation.”
Outlining the benefits of the irrigation scheme, he stated that the scheme has benefitted some 14,264 smallholder farmers which have translated into the creation of 40,000 jobs along with several value chain activities.
On the part of vegetable production, he said, “Ghana has also invested in the vegetable sector, through the Ghana Peri-urban Vegetable Value Chain Project. We have provided irrigation infrastructure covering a total of 541 hectares, which directly impacts vegetable farmers in the Greater Accra Region.”
Addressing the interest of the youth in agriculture, President Akufo-Addo mentioned that the Government is training 537 youth in the production of high-value vegetables using Greenhouse technology.
“We have made substantial investments in the agricultural sector because we recognize this is where a substantial number of people make a living”
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