WHY IS THE GHANAIAN CHILD AGAINST BECOMING A FARMER?

I walked into a primary class one day and asked the kids what they wanted to be in the future, and the response was just as I expected: “pilot, lawyer, doctor, nurse, etc.” However, none of them aspired to be farmers, and it didn’t take long for me to understand why.”

Throughout my childhood, I never heard one of my classmates want to be a farmer. Every parent wants their child to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or do any other fancy job that may require a uniform, suit, and tie or accord them the highest respect in society—anything but a farmer.

Parents often use family members engaged in farming as a lesson for their children, advising, “Learn hard so you don’t end up like Uncle A or B, who farms to make a living in the village,” and even the farmers do not want their own children to end up like them.

Parents may have sparked the lack of interest at home, which then persisted in our schools, where misbehaving students often faced punishments such as being assigned plots of land or the school farm to weed. These kids passed out, seeing farming and agriculture as a punishment or a degrading job rather than a profession.

The Ghana Education Service recently changed the syllabus of the basic school in Ghana but did not reintroduce the study of agriculture, which had been taught several years ago.

Almost every secondary school used to have a school farm and poultry farm where kids actively participated in the curriculum by working on it. Students then used the produce to prepare food, selling any excess on the markets.

This taught the kids how to grow their food and even spiked their interest in agribusiness.

Recently, schools have neglected to teach the subject, preventing students from appreciating the profession, understanding its importance, or developing an interest in the field. Children do not learn where their food comes from or how to grow it, and the same is true for second-cycle institutions, as only a few still teach agricultural science or have school farms.

Moreover, the Ghanaian media plays a limited role in elevating the status of farming in the eyes of its viewers. Movies feature actors like Agya Koo and Akrobeto (both popular Ghanaian actors) as poor farmers residing in villages while casting Bill Asamoah (also a popular actor) as the rich businessman in the city, or a “borga (a slang term that refers to any individual who has been outside the country).

We go further by making the poor farmer sell his farm to further his child’s education abroad and become anything other than a farmer, or to even go to the city to make a name for himself. Thus, how do these descriptions motivate the Ghanaian child or any other young individual to venture into the field?

Also, agricultural issues are not sensitive to young individuals in the country. This is in the sense that, as the country’s population continues to increase, more and more individuals need land to build, among other things, so what happens when there isn’t enough for everyone?

The price of land shoots up, leaving young individuals who may want to venture into the field not being able to afford them.

Genesis 2:15 in the Bible bestows man with the first profession of farming, marking the origin of humanity.

As kids are the future generation, Ghanaians must break the cycle of giving certain jobs more respect than others in society. This will prevent us from passing on such perceptions to our young ones. Additionally, the media should be mindful of how they represent farmers in their various outlets to avoid stereotyping.

Also, reintroducing agriculture into our basic and secondary school systems will incorporate the importance of agriculture into our future leaders, as one may be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc., but only the farmer is responsible for our survival by providing food for all.