Agric policy must facilitate employment creation - Dr Cudjoe

Dr. Kofitsyo Cudjoe, Ghana’s Honorary Consul to Norway, has called for further policy interventions in the agriculture sector to reduce poverty and facilitate employment creation among the youth.

He made the call during the fourth section of the Youth in Agriculture Workshop organized by National Democratic Congress Youth Activists, in the Ketu-South Constituency of the Volta Region.

The seminar was to engage municipal agriculture directors, district officials, youth and women groups, party activists, traditional leaders and civil society groups in the District and across the Region to explore potentials in the agriculture sector for employment creation and to reduce poverty and dependency resulting from unemployment.

Dr Cudjoe explained that experiences in other countries show that a direct engagement of local farmers could often devise win-win scenarios to develop the sector.

“When local farmers take responsibility for their own livelihood no one gets blamed for caring for the lives that are wrecked by reckless ideas usually formulated by policy makers who have little or no experience of local circumstances,” he added.

He noted that if local farmers were to take control of the agriculture sector, the political rhetoric that agriculture is the backbone of the economy would be matched with the use of appropriate methods to achieve food self-sufficiency.

Mr. Prince Bansah, the Coordinator of the Youth in Agriculture Programme, urged government to strategize on agriculture policy which will assist in making a foundation for engaging the youth in the country to reduce the high-levels of youth unemployment in the country.

Mr. William Dzamefe, the Municipal Agriculture Director, commended organizers of the programme and urged farmers to respond to their calls to collaborate with government to make the sector a success.

Mr. Dzamefe also explained that efforts were being made to encourage the youth to see the agricultural sector as an exciting sector for employment creation.

He advised the youth that despite the existing challenges, they should avail themselves for programs offered by the government to make the sector an attractive one.

Mr. Sylvanus Amedume, the Youth Organizer of the NDC for Ketu South Constituency, expressed satisfaction for the opportunity created to understand some of the government policy issues in the Agriculture sector.

He promised to continue to engage their colleagues in the Constituency and across the Region about the opportunities available in the sector instead of migrating to seek non-existing jobs in Accra and other big cities.