Ghana govt vows to make requisite tools available, farmers must relinquish rudimentary tools

The government of Ghana has vowed to continue to make available the requisite tools for the farmers to ensure that their productivity does not dwindle.

George Oduro, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Horticulture recently remarked at a validation workshop for stakeholders on the draft Ghana Agricultural Engineering Policy Strategy in the capital city, Accra. He further said that the government committed to ensuring the farmers are able to utilize the right tools because rudimentary tools made farming a drudgery and unattractive for the youth.

“On other continents such as the Americas, Europe and Asia, the application of technologies in agriculture has revolutionised farming and continues to do so,” he said. He added that all partners in agriculture had recognised the increasing need for mechanisation across the agriculture value chain.

According to him, the African Union recognised the importance of having machines (through Malabo Declaration in 2014) that were suitable, reliable and affordable when it comes to accelerating agricultural growth in Africa. Thus, agricultural mechanisation contributed effectively to efficiency and productivity of all other inputs such as seeds, water, labour and time.

He opined the ministry had also enabled smallholder farmers to have access to various kinds of machinery specially configured for them under the Agricultural Mechanisation Services Enterprise Centres.

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