By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, Nov 24, GNA – The Ghana EXIM Bank (GEXIM) has presented a tractor and its accessories worth Gh¢ 711, 000 to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) towards the National Farmers’ Day celebrations.
The tractor is an LS plus 80 (80 horsepower) which comes with the plough, harrow and boom sprayer with a lifespan of 30 years if maintained well.
The donation is a sponsorship prize for the 1st Runner-up of the 39th National Farmers’ Day that comes off December 1 at Tarkwa in the Western Region.
Ghana EXIM Bank has been sponsoring this prize for 23 years now and sees financing in the Agriculture sector as crucial to the nation’s development, especially adding value through processing for exports.
Mr Bright Evans Darko, Head, SME Banking, GEXIM, who presented the tractor on behalf of Mr Lawrence Agyinsam, CEO of the bank, said the support was to motivate hardworking farmers and fishers to continue to play their critical role in the sector.
“Exim Bank has been interested in agriculture and agro processing, thereby making Ghanaian goods competitive in the global market place. We believe that if agriculture is supported and financed well it will overall impact the development of the country,” he said.
Mr Darko said the tractor would help the winner to mechanise his or her farming practices, adding that research had shown that mechanisation saved a lot of time, increase productivity and yields.
Mr Yaw Frimpong, Deputy Minister for MoFA and Chairman of the 39th Farmers’ Day Planning Committee, said the gesture by GEXIM would deepen the sustainable way of agriculture production after receiving the tractor.
“We shall encourage them to continue doing it for the sake of our farmers because this goes long way to increase their productivity. All these contribute to ensuring food security,” he said.
Mr Frimpong said we were in an era where climate change kept affecting the world and we ought to do irrigation and have pest and disease resistance crops so we could large scale farming across the country since substantial farming would not take us anywhere.
This year’s National Farmers’ Day Celebrations provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture practices, celebrate the contributions of farmers, and reflect on the positives.
The theme for the event is “Delivering Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Security and Resilience,” and some organisations including OMNI Fert, New Okaff and Green Energy Ghana had donated bags of fertilizers and inputs to support the event.
GNA