Ghana has no justification to be poor country - Dizengoff

Sunyani, April 13, GNA - Mr Ahmad Hashemi, the General Manager of Dizengoff Ghana Limited, dealers in agro-chemicals and farm inputs, on Wednesday said Ghana has no justification to be poor country due to the abundant natural resource endowed the nation.

He observed the country could easily become one of the richest in Africa, if tapped into, harnessed properly managed her resources, effectively for wealth creation and poverty reduction.

Speaking at the launching of the KVCL/Dizengoff partnership project in Sunyani, Mr Hashemi noted that the agric sector alone had numerous opportunities that could fetch the nation enough foreign exchange earnings for economic transformation.

It was on the theme 'Promoting Mechanised Farming for Increased Agricultural Productivity'

The partnership is a project being undertaken by the Kofi Vinyo and Company Limited, a Kwatire-based agribusiness firm, in the Sunyani West District and Dizengoff Ghana Limited to improve food production in Northern, Brong-Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

Dizengoff will provide its products to the door-steps of the farmers in the four regions at reduced prices.

Mr Hashemi indicated that though his company had been in the country for almost 60 years, Ghana had not been able to capitalize on its existence to achieve economic gains because successive governments had failed to give the agric sector the needed attention.

He expressed the hope that government would motivate farmers to switch from the application of synthetic, and use bio-products (organic materials) for improve yields and food productivity.

Mr Kofi Vinyo, the Managing Director of the KVCL, emphasised that it was untrue that farming was a reserved for the poor.

He said as an economic venture, which had huge potentials; the government ought to make farming and agriculture, attractive and motivate the youth to go into it commercially.

Mr Vinyo called on the government to support irrigation systems, to address the unpredicted weather patterns that affected agricultural productivity.

Mr Sherif Ghali, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Young Entrepreneurs, a network of young entrepreneurs, noted that youth unemployment and economic development was not a challenge peculiar to Ghana, but a global challenge which needed to be addressed collectively.

International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that the global youth unemployment rate was expected to rise from 12.9 percent in 2015 to 13.1 percent and remain at 13.1 percent in 2017, thus, 71 million people.

According to a World Bank report, 48 percent of youth in the country are unemployed.

Mr Ghali said agriculture was the surest way to help arrest unemployment once and for all and expressed the hope that with the new technological ways of farming, the sector would become lucrative and attractive for young people to venture into.

Mr Ghali called on the government to support farmers to acquire and apply the use of modern technologies to increase productivity.

GNA

By Dennis Peprah, GNA