The Akwamuhene of Wenchi Traditional Area, Nana Owusu Gyare has revealed that over nine billion dollars ($9b) that the Kuffour’s government took from African Development Bank (AFDB) to construct irrigation system for the farmers at Wenchi Traditional Area never yielded any results for the farmers.
The project that could have helped farmers to produce food crops throughout the year has not yet been completed since president Kufour’s time.
Nana Gyare said this during an interview with Agric Today at Techiman. According to him, he gave one hundred and sixty (160) acres of land to Kufour’s government to develop the irrigate system but to date, the project is not yet completed for farmers to utilize.
“I gave out one hundred and sixty acres of land to Kuffour’s government for construction of irrigation system for the farmers to use but till now they have not completed the project for the farmers to use”, Nana lamented.
He expressed his regret of Ghana importing tomatoes from the neighboring country when the middle belt alone can produce tomatoes to feed the country.
The middle belt namely, Bono East, Bono, and Ahafo alone have the capacity to produce the needed tomatoes and other horticultural commodities that the country needs to survive.
The recent price hikes of food commodities are a result of inadequate support from the government to the farmers. The government should support the horticulture sector especially the vegetable sector to curb the importation of tomatoes from Burkina Faso and the critical areas of such supports are the irrigation system and the provision of the right seed variety for farmers to cultivate.
He called on the government to provide the right variety of seeds for the farmers to cultivate. Nana mentioned that the tomato variety that is produced in Ghana has a short lifespan and could not withstand the test of moisture at post-harvest.
The youth are willing to venture into agriculture but the lack of a supporting system is the main constraint that is preventing the youth.
He beseeched private individuals and other stakeholders to support the agriculture sector especially the vegetable sector to abrogate importation.
