We want to make agriculture more attractive for the youth — Joyce Bawah

Joyce Bawah Mogtari, a Senior Presidential Advisor and Special Aide to President John Dramani Mahama, says the NDC government aims to make agriculture a more appealing career path for Ghanaian youth.

She noted that the Mahama-led administration envisions a future where Ghana becomes food secure and exports surplus grains to boost the economy.

Speaking on Accra-based Woezor TV’s 'The Interview' show aired on Sunday, April 20, Bawah Mogtari said agriculture will be positioned as both a job creator and a major source of foreign exchange.

“What we want to do is make agriculture sexier, more attractive as an engaging way that young people can build something for themselves. Imagine a future where Ghana is food sufficient, food secure and exporting,” she said.

According to her, President Mahama has fully embraced the idea of agriculture as a tool to reduce imports, increase exports, and create sustainable jobs.

“We are blessed with so much land, good rain patterns, and if you notice, one of the biggest pivots of President Mahama’s campaign is that he literally embraced the whole notion of agriculture as an opportunity for jobs, as an opportunity for exports and driving imports down,” she added.

She lamented that Ghana currently imports most of the grains it consumes and stressed the need to reverse that trend through large-scale farming.

“What we want to do now is to farm enough grains so that we can feed ourselves — and then export,” Bawah Mogtari said.