Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto (middle)
The Northern Regional Director of
Food and Agriculture, Hajia Hawa Musah, has disclosed that 870,470 jobs have
been created under the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) flagship
policy in the agricultural sector.
According to her, 133,571 males and
27,127 females had been enrolled in the PFJ initiative.
The regional director made the
disclosure at a farmers’ forum when the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Owusu
Afriyie Akoto, visited the region.
The Northern Regional Minister,
Salifu Saeed, who was also at the forum, said “the impact of the PFJ is visible
and a lot of investors are coming into the region to discuss how to invest in
agriculture in the region.”
According to him, farmers in the
region had been empowered with logistics like motorbikes and other farming
inputs including the supply of fertilizers at a subsidized cost.
“Selected MMDCEs have received
modern pieces of equipment to mechanize and modernize agriculture. Farmers are
now moving away from traditional farming methods to a more modernized and
mechanized way of farming in the region through the government’s effort,” he
said.
However, farmers who spoke at the
event lamented inadequate processing industries and markets for their produce.
They indicated that there was only
one processing factory in the Northern Region and could not absorb the produce
of farmers in the whole region.
On his part, Dr. Â Akoto gave an assurance that he was determined
to secure resources from the government to support farmers.
He said the Akufo-Addo government
was determined to improve the fortunes of agriculture which is the mainstay of
the economy.
The minister said he was on a tour of the country to review the PFJ and other initiatives.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale
