Acquiring land for commercial farming is a 'headache' in Ghana - Prosper Bani

The former Chief of Staff under former president Mahama has bemoaned the nature of the country’s land tenure system, a situation he attributed to the inability of farmers to provide enough foodstuffs to feed the whole nation.

According to Mr. Bani, land acquisition in the country is very cumbersome making it difficult for farmers to move from subsistence farming to commercial farming.

He bemoaned the situation where farmers who want to acquire a huge plot of land for farming will have to negotiate with a lot of landowners for a piece of and.

‘’In this country, land ownership is still an issue. We need to resolve land problems where farmers who want to go into commercial farming can go beyond ten acres to one thousand acres. But if you went out today to acquire a land for farming you will realize that you will have to negotiate with ten different family landowners and several traditional leaders to get thousands of acres, Which is very challenging.’’ He noted.

“Such investments in commercial farming, he stresses, would also produce the necessary jobs that the Government intends to provide.” Mr Bani added.

Speaking to Ghanacrusader.com ahead of Ghana’s 33rd farmers day celebration Mr. Bani who is an advocate of commercial farming as a farmer himself has called for a solution to the land acquisition problems.

The 2017 National Farmers’ Day celebration, the 33rd edition, is scheduled to come off today December 1st in Kumasi.

The Guest of Honour is His Excellency President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.

The day is set aside by the government to honour farmers and fishers who provide food for the nation, raw materials for industries and also earn foreign exchange for the country.

It is under the theme: Farming for Food and Jobs.”