By Erica Apeatua Addo
Dompim (W/R), Nov. 9, GNA – Mr. Kwasi Antwi, a 58-year-old farmer from Dompim Pepesa, has been adjusted the overall best farmer in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality.
He cultivates cocoa, rice, plantain, maize, cocoa yam, rubber, pepper, garden eggs, tomatoes, goat, sheep, poultry, among others.
Mr. Antwi was presented with a tricycle popularly called “aboboyaa”, a wheelbarrow, orthopedic mattress, bags of fertilizers, a knapsack sprayer, machetes, wellington boots, plastic chairs, brush clutter and a certificate.
Madam Augustina Kwofie, won the best female farmer award; she took home orthopedic mattress, wheelbarrow, bags of fertilizer, machetes, brush cutter, plastic chairs, and a certificate.
In all 21 farmers were honored at the 40th edition of the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly Farmers’ and Fishers’ Day celebration which took place at Dompim.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Benjamin Kessie, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said the theme for this year, “Building Climate Resilient Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security”, would not have been more appropriate, especially when certain parts of the country experienced less rainfall than usual, in the mid-June to mid-August this year served as a threat to food security.
This dry spell, he revealed, significantly impacted grain production, and other food systems, particularly in the northern and middle belt, leading to the decline in crop yields and rise in food prices.
He indicated that this brief upset on food systems necessitated the New Patriotic Party government led by the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Vice President through the Minister for Food and Agriculture, to quickly put in place measures to mitigate its effect on farmers and the citizenry.
The measures the government introduced include distribution of fertilizers and seeds to 800,000 smallholder farmers, with each receiving two bags of NPK, one bag of urea and maize or rice seeds. This is expected to lead to the production of 360,000 metric tons of paddy rice and 770,000 metric tons of maize.
The MCE said:” Commercial farmers are to receive a total of 20,000 metric tons of fertilizer, with each farmer receiving up to 50 bags of NPK and 25 bags of urea. Interest Free loans are to be provided to commercial farmers through the Ministry of Food agriculture and with partners.
Poultry farmers are to receive support with feed and vaccines, food grants are being distributed to over 800,000 farmers in affected regions, with each farmer receiving 25 kg of rice and 100 kg of maize, an online grain market is also established, started on October 10, 2024, to enable affordable access to grains.”
He stressed that all the packages listed above were meant for only farmers who had registered on the Ghana Agricultural and Agro Business Platform (GAP), and therefore urged farmers in the municipality to take advantage to assess this benefit.
On some agriculture development and achievement in the municipality, Mr Kessie said so far, the Department of Agric has registered 500 farmers on the Gap and they would benefit from the impute credits and kind system under the Planting for Food and Job phase two (PFJ 2), collaborating with Ghana’s Statistical Service to collate data on food security and environmental sustenance, adding, this was being done to establish the food sufficiency status of the municipality.
The MCE announced that the Assembly has received and distributed 25,000 seedlings of coconut and 15,000 oil palm seedlings to plant on 583.3 acres of coconuts and 250 acres of oil palm, collaborating with AAI Mine to establish rice and vegetable farms, as well as fishpond for 27 farmers at Teberebie.
He said all these developments listed above were to ensure that they built a resilient agriculture for a sustainable food security in the municipality
Mr John Essien, Municipal Director of Agriculture, encouraged farmers in the municipality to take heed to all the good agronomic practices that they have extended to them by way of climate resilience and food security.
According to him, this would ensure that they became self-sufficient and food secure, adding the doors of the Department of Agriculture are always open to all and sundry who required any technical assistance.
He noted that the challenges faced by the Department of Agriculture in the municipality include the galamsey menace, which was eating up fertile agricultural lands, and a typical example is the encroachment of the Simpa rice field, lack of warehouse to store agricultural inputs supplied by the government, lack of maintenance of staff motor bikes for field visits due to inadequate funds and the inadequacy of their staff strength.
Ohyeawora Bian Nwonwa Panyin IV, Chief of Dompim Pepesa, who chaired the function commended the awardees and all farmers for working tirelessly to feed, clothe and sustain Ghanaians.
Mr George Mireku Duker, the Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuaem constituency and the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, representatives of mining companies, heads of department, assembly members among others were present.
GNA