My Say On Farmers Day

Let’s give farmers the benefit of the doubt for filling our stomach brimfully anytime we feel hungry. As this month earmarked for the celebration of farmers day some faces of farmers will be looking dejected and others for high breathtaking. My dear reader, have you ask yourself why so, as the very final month of December to remember draws nigh to Christmas.

To begin with, for years cocoa has been the backbone of the economy of Ghana. It is not just the chief agricultural export and the main cash crop but also after Cote d”ivoire, Ghana is the second largest cocoa exporter in the world.

However, I have noted that the most important agent in the cocoa production chain is the farmer, without whose effort the cocoa industry would not have developed to its current enviable level globally. Therefore, anything that will affect farmers in their efforts to produce the crop should never be countenanced.

Government, over the years, have not been oblivious but have i9ntroduced various policies, such as increasing the use of fertilizer, hand pollination and improved market access and regulations to provide a ready market to ensure the continuos viability of the sector. We cannot gamble with an important sector of the economy as the cocoa industry. We should also never kill the hen that lays the golden egg.

Already, the country is battling with the issue of ageing farmers and how to replace them. If this situation is not checked, it will sow a seed of demotivation to the youth who would want to take to cocoa farming.

It also has the potential to derail the effort of the government to increase yields and encourage smuggling. Already some farmers are contemplating selling their beans in neighbouiring Cote d”Ivoire.