Govt urged to be committed to agricultural devt

Nyankpala,(N/R), Jan.3, GNA - Management of the Apex Farmers Organisation of Ghana (APFOG) has called on the Government to show more commitment to increase investment in rural and agricultural development to achieve food security.

It noted that for Ghana to achieve its social, economic and political aspirations there was the need to improve on research and technological development.

Osofo Patrick Adingtinga Apullah, General Secretary of APFOG made the call in an interview with the GNA at Nyankpala. He said agricultural research and innovations were significant to increase income to farmers, promote quality produce the people and provide the needed care for the environment.

"Farmers in Ghana want to benefit from the modern trends in research, including socio-economic research on business management, access to markets and fair trade," He added.

He noted that research for development was fundamental to modernization of agriculture as well as improving the economic and needed health care delivery of rural dwellers. Osofo Apullah appealed to the Government to institute prudent policies to empower farmers through farmers' organisations to fight rural poverty.

He therefore, called on the Government to provide the needed financial support for research institutions for rapid dissemination of results to farmers and also a budget to building the capacity of farmers for the proper utilisation of research findings. Osofo Apullah called on research institutions to reorganise their policy objectives to contribute to improve standard of living in the rural areas.