Here’s How The Youth Can Turn Ghana’s Fortune Through Agriculture

Is the youth of Ghana the hope for a food secure future?

Yes only if the government and well-meaning Ghanaians will lend the needed support to the Youth Feed Ghana Project (YFGP).

The Youth Feed Ghana Project (YFGP), is an imitative to curb food importation and unemployment among the youth by engaging them in the cultivation of crops and the raising of animals.

Founded by Francis Aduoffei and Nana Kwame Abroquah, the initiative seeks to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition by engaging Senior High School (SHS), students during vacation and weekends as temporary workers on their district farms.

National service personnel and other young Ghanaians can be engaged in the programme as part- time workers.

The founders believe agriculture is the mainstay of Ghana’s Economy and employs more than half of Ghana’s population, who are engage directly or indirectly. However, it is one of the under-utilized opportunities when it comes to addressing socioeconomic issues.

They simply cannot decipher why Ghana has strong agricultural opportunities but its people is still hungry and malnourished.

Currently, YFGP, according to founders has been piloted in some few communities and is seeing great progress.

“At a full extension we hope to establish 32404 acres of state farms in 648 communities across all the 216 Districts, with plans of setting up processing firm,” Abroquah explained.

Kpandai-,Woe, Douabone, Sarfokrom-Ash ,Ogando, Vea-are all communities in different regions of Ghana where the YFGP has achieved success.

For full implementation and expansion, YFGP is calling on the government, investors and stakeholders in agriculture to lend a supporting hand.

Most young people in Ghana do not want to engage in farming because they do not see future prospects in the field. However, the current government is making agriculture an attractive venture by introducing “Planting for Food and Jobs” programme in 2017.

The “Planting for Food and Jobs” programme was initiated to solve two major problems: Unemployment and Importation.

This obviously ties into the vision of YFGP and a partnership between government and YFGP wouldn’t be a wrong move.