Minister Explains Government's Policy On Agriculture To The Press

Accra,(Greater Accra Region) 15 Oct. The government is negotiating with the African Development Bank for a loan of 32.5 million dollars to irrigate 2,500 hectares of land to cultivate crops with economic value. The loan, expected to cover the first half of the 10 year- project, will be contracted by next February. Four thousand hectares will be irrigated at the end of the 10-year period. Explaining government policies on agriculture at the resumed ''Meet the Press'' in Accra today, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, sector minister, described irrigation as ''the most constraining problem'' to agriculture. "We intend to deliberately move Ghana away from rain-fed agriculture. You know the name we give to Ghana's agriculture. It is called 'God shall provide agriculture' ... "One of our priorities for the future is to remove the most constraining risk to agriculture by putting more lands under irrigation". The "Meet The Press'' series organized by the Ministry of Communications is for sector ministers to explain government policies to the media and the public. Dr. Adjei said since irrigation is very expensive, government will bear the greatest cost of the project, while beneficiaries contribute to make it sustainable. It costs about 10,000 dollars to irrigate a hectare of land, and at present 7,800 hectares of land are under irrigation in the country. Dr. Adjei stressed the need to transform agriculture to be more responsive to the needs of food security and agro-processing and save foreign exchange spent on importing food. He said the Vision 2020 programme is aimed at achieving economic growth at an annual rate of eight per cent, and agriculture is expected to perform between four to six per cent. Dr. Adjei mentioned a number of programmes being drawn up for donor support to enable his ministry to achieve its targets. High on the agenda is the Ghana Programme for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security, which will promote large and medium scale agriculture, plantation development and the nucleus outgrowers' scheme. He emphasized the need for greater private sector investment in agriculture, while the government provides infrastructure to ensure efficiency. "It is important that we change the demographic background of the people who are in agriculture. We need the youth and people with different status to change the misconception that agriculture is a punitive vocation". Dr. Adjei said negotiations are going on for the establishment of a Ghanaian-Israeli project to produce improved quality seeds and planting materials for farmers. Other projects in the pipe-line are production of organic fertilizer, construction of silos and warehouses for preservation and efficient transport services to cart produce. Dr. Adjei said his ministry is embarking on a decentralisation programme to ensure that the districts are well-staffed to better cater for the needs of their areas. He recounted the development of the sector from the 1950's to 1996, pointing out that much was achieved between 1985 to 1996 as a result of the Economic Recovery Programme. "The production of maize for instance, rose by 154 per cent, with an annual growth rate of 14 per cent, while cassava increased by 131 per cent, with an annual growth rate of 11.9 per cent". Other crops, such as yam, rice, sorghum and plantain, also saw increased production. There were some increases in fish and livestock production, too. Goat production increased by 47.1 per cent, poultry by 45.5 per cent, while marine fishing was up by 44 per cent. Dr. Adjei acknowledged that the gains were inadequate and urged farmers to strengthen the weakest areas. There are about two million farmers in the three-billion dollar industry, with 90 per cent being small-scale holders. About 300 million dollars are invested annually in the sector. Mr. Mike Akyeampong and Mr. Clement Bugase, Deputy Ministers, the chief director and other high-ranking officials assisted the minister to answer questions on irrigation, research and export, among others. Mr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah, Minister of Communications, said the conference was in response to concerns raised for more interaction between the government and the media. He advised journalists to always verify their information before publishing them to avoid misinforming the public and the 50 million internet subscribers world-wide.