2023 Farmers’ Week Celebration Underway

THE MINISTRY of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has begun activities marking this year’s farmers’ week celebration with a grand opening ceremony in Accra yesterday.

The event, held at the ministry’s enclave, officially marked the beginning of a series of activities lined up for the celebration of farmers in Ghana who, through their works, are contributing meaningfully to the country’s socioeconomic development.

Held under the theme, “Delivering Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Security and Resilience”, this year’s celebration marks the 39th edition of the event, and the first time a full week has been dedicated to celebrate the painstaking efforts of Ghanaian farmers.

Leading the celebrations, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, stressed on the capability of Ghanaian farmers to produce quality food for consumption by all, stressing, “We are capable.”

He, however, bemoaned the seeming lack of interest by Ghanaian youth in agriculture despite all the efforts and resources deployed by government in making agriculture attractive to Ghanaians, especially the youth.

The minister insisted that government’s food resilience programme, under the phase two of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ2.0), “can solve our unemployment problems.”

He, therefore, urged the youth to take interest in agriculture, revealing that the ministry has rolled out a five-year food security and resilience plan to ensure food sufficiency by 2028.

“We started [the five-year plan] in September [this year]. We have some milestones [targeted] in December, and we will invite everyone come December 25, to come and see what we’ve been able to achieve. And then follow the milestones that will lead us into our food security in 2028,” the minister indicated.

Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Yaw Frimpong Addo, who also doubles as the chairman of the organising committee for this year’s Farmers’ Day celebrations, stated that this year’s style “is a novelty”.

According to him, despite the hikes in food prices, food was largely available and accessible, adding that government was working hard to address the challenges and ensure food affordability in the country.

Activities

At the opening ceremony of the 2023 farmers’ week, various organisations and businesses in and outside the agricultural value chain were seen exhibiting their wares and products.

There were exhibitors ranging from crop and seed vendors, fertiliser companies, and financial institutions among others numbering about 145 in all.

The exhibition is expected to last five days, and the number of exhibitors also expected to increase significantly in the course of time.

The weeklong celebration will be climaxed with an awards night at the University of Mines and Technology (UmaT), Tarkwa in the Western Region, where nominees would be invited to receive awards.

Source:Nii Adjei Mensahfio