The Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly has held the 2022 annual farmers’ day celebration in Accra with a call on the youth to venture into farming.
This year’s event is being organized under the theme “Accelerating Agriculture Development Through Value-Addition in the Regions of the Country.”
Speaking at the event, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Assembly, Mr. Mohammed Aminu Zakari, urged the youth to take advantage of farming, adding that farmers must be recognized for their immense support and contribution towards food sovereignty and security in the country.
He said farmers have played a significant role in the food value chain across the country, which has further earned the country foreign exchange and food exports to countries around the world; therefore, the government will continue to adequately supply farmers with the needed farm inputs.
According to the Municipal Chief Executive, the government, through its agriculture flagship program, has provided farmers with fertilizers and improved seedlings, as well as the release of extension officers to engage and sensitize farmers on new and emerging agricultural trends.
As a result, he urged the youth to embrace and venture into farming, noting that farming is a profitable business with a long-life span, and that the youth should accept it as a very rewarding profession because the government has prioritized it as a flagship program.
For his part, the Overall Best Farmer, Mr. Abdulai Ibrahim, in an interview, thanked the Assembly for awarding him the title of “best farmer in the municipality” and expressed his gratitude to the management for recognizing his hard work in crop and livestock farming, adding that “hard work pays.”
He also commended the agriculture extension officers for the periodic visits to his farms and pointed out that “he obeys and complies with all directives and instructions from the officers and was quick to explain that the collaboration is of immense benefit to his farm’s produce.”
Mr. Abdulai disclosed that his farm has hundreds of goats, cows, sheep, poultry, turkeys, and rabbits, among others, and advised the youth to take up the challenge of farming, saying it is lucrative and will turn their lives around.
The Head Mistress of Accra Girls Senior High School, Madam Gifty Andoh, also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the management of the Assembly for the recognition of her organic farm, which has produced a lot of vegetables and other crops for her family as well as the school.
“I advise the youth, particularly girls, to take advantage of farming, explaining that it will enable them to take full control of their destiny,” she added.
