750,000 jobs to be created through planting for food and jobs campaign

Government says it will create 750,000 direct and indirect jobs in the country through the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign. 

This was disclosed at the launch of the campaign in Bolgatanga, the capital of the Upper East region. 

The campaign, which is in collaboration with private sector service providers, seeks to ensure immediate and adequate food security through improved productivity.

The Planting for Food and Jobs campaign will focus initially on four key commodity value chains constituting: maize, rice, soyabean and sorghum. 

These crops have been selected because they can been grown in every agro-ecology of Ghana. In addition, the campaign will promote peri-urban vegetable production. 

As the program progresses, other vegetables, legumes, fruits, industrial crops and poultry will be included. 

The campaign is anchored on five pillars to ensure that it acts as a catalyst and forerunner of the agricultural transformation in the country. 

The pillars include: the provision of improved seeds, supply of fertilizers, dedicated extension service, marketing strategies and the introduction of an electronic platform to facilitate e-agriculture. 

In a speech read on behalf of the Ministry for Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, explained that under the e-agriculture, farmers will be registered on-line as well as mapping of the locations of their farms. 

Measuring of farm sizes will also be done digitally for database and monitoring purposes. 

He said the District Assemblies will be tasked to identify and register progressive farmers in each of the 216 districts with the intention of identifying the appropriate value chain actors. 

As a result of these actions additional businesses and job opportunities will be created in the areas of: storage, transport, processing, packaging and marketing of agricultural produce. 

Recognizing that lack of credit could pose as a serious challenge to the program, Dr. Afriyie Akoto, explained all inputs required under the program will be subsidized. 

Furthermore, farmers at the initial stage would only pay 50 percent of the subsidized inputs upfront. 

The Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari, said the region is poised for the campaign. That notwithstanding, he urged the youth in the region to take advantage of government interventions and initiatives to improve their well-being. 

He also mentioned that irrigation facilities and dams at Vea and Tono have the potential to ensure the sustainability of the program.

GBC