Ministers challenge youth to take up agriculture

Ministers of Agriculture and Education, Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi and Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu respectively, on Saturday challenged Ghanaian youth to look to agriculture as a noble and viable economic venture to engage in.

They said not only will agriculture hand the youth ready employment and save them years of searching for fast dwindling and largely unavailable 'white collar jobs', crop farming, livestock production and fish farming are money-making ventures that will hand the youth life-long employment.

The two ministers were speaking on Saturday to a number of just-out-of-school graduates working on one of the National Service Scheme's Agriculture Projects at Komenda in the Central Region where the scheme is cultivating a 400-acre farm, largely of maize. The farm also has assorted vegetables.

According to the Agric Minister, the project, one of many dotted around the country, forms an integral part of the Youth in Agriculture programme rolled out by the ministry as part of the government's agricultural diversification and modernization programme.

“The whole idea is try to convince as many of us who want to go into agriculture to enter that trade but this time enter it from a more professional point of view. So we use this farm as demonstrational farm to teach best agricultural practices. We are no longer using the hoe and the cutlass, we are not using the slash and burn, we are using tractors and all. Indeed if any youth of today wanted to go into agriculture, there is no way he is going to use the cutlass and the hoe, he will want to own a tractor or have access to a tractor to enable him plough a sizeable, economically viable piece of land to engage in his farming activities. This is what this farm teaches,” he said.

Mr. Awhoi expressed hope that many of the students would take up the challenge to stay in the occupation and end up as established farmers, recalling how the nation's youth rose to challenges wrought by devastating wild fires in 1983 to salvage an otherwise devastated nation. On that occasion, he said fire brought the cocoa industry for instance to its knees, virtually, and it took young men and women to rally to the national call to revitalize the industry.

At the time of the visit, about three hundred service personnel – eleven of them posted there for their national service and the rest voluntarily helping out – were engaged in various activities under the supervision of the regional director Mr. Seth Asiedu Antwi.

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Top left: Mr. Seth Asiedu Antwi, project director explains the concept to journalists and top right, a section of the maize planted about a month ago. The main photo has some of the students applying fertilizer.

Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu who was excited by the enthusiasm of the service personnel, said farming in the country needed a youthful boost because the farming population nationwide is ageing, a situation she said would not be the best.

“Even though farming has become somewhat difficult during our generation, we need to give the image of farming a boost, give it a more youthful face …we want to show the young ones, these are all graduates who are here today we want to show them that there is not only dignity in farming but there is reward in farming. You are able to actually see the fruits of your labour, you are helping not only yourself and your family, but you are helping the population of the country…”

Betty commended the service personnel and the director of the NSS, Vincent Kuagbenu, urging them to continue with the great service they were giving the nation. Listen to Betty.

Story by Myjoyonline.com/Ghana