Five hundred and six (506) Feed Ghana Brigadiers, trained agricultural officers with advanced qualifications in agriculture who received stringent training at the Ghana Police Training School with their motorbikes, have been deployed to assist in resetting Ghana’s agriculture for food security.
At the passing out ceremony, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku, referred to the Brigadiers as the birth of a new national force for agricultural transformation.
According to the Minister, the Feed Ghana Programme requires officers who are punctual, accountable, physically and mentally fit, mission-oriented, and ready to serve in every district of this country.
“Agriculture itself requires discipline. A farmer cannot plant at the wrong time and expect the right harvest. A livestock farmer cannot neglect feeding and health and expect productivity. A coordinator cannot submit false reports and expect successful implementation. A brigadier cannot abandon the field and expect transformation,” he explained.
He commended the Ghana Police Service for supporting to instil discipline, order, punctuality, and a sense of duty among the Brigadiers to exhibit them in the various districts in the line of duty.
To satisfy the curiosity of some Ghanaians on why the Feed Ghana Brigadiers were trained at the Ghana Police Training School and not in our Agricultural Colleges, the Minister said it was to build discipline, strengthen teamwork, develop resilience, instil respect for authority, and prepare them for field service under pressure.
He underscored the ministry’s commitment to the Brigadiers by conveying the necessary operational and technical orientations, the objectives of the Feed Ghana Programme, the implementation arrangements and the specific roles that they are expected to perform in the districts.
He charged the Brigadiers to be the ambassadors of production, discipline, hard work, and national renewal; however issued a stern caution not to be defiant to the District Agriculture Directors.
“The District Director of Agriculture remains the head of the Ministry’s operations at the district level, and I expect every Coordinator to respect that authority and work within the established chain of command. Success will come through cooperation, not competition; coordination, not duplication; and teamwork, not parallel structures,” he cautioned.
He urged the Brigadiers to stay humble, and work as servants under the farmers, strengthen the existing system, but not to replace it, and support the District Directors and the extension officers to be able to deliver the objectives of the Feed Ghana Programme effectively, professionally, and melodiously.
“My dear Brigadiers, you are stepping into your roles at a defining moment. The country, farmers, the government, families, and above all, Ghana, expect much from you. You must therefore serve with humility, discipline, honesty, patriotism, and urgency,” he encouraged them.
