By Gladys Abakah/Patricia Dadzie
Takoradi, Nov. 30, GNA- Traders at the Takoradi Business Centre have expressed the need for the government to help modernize the activities of the agriculture sector to serve as a motivation for farmers to give their best.
The move they indicated would also attract the teeming youth in the country to venture into farming.
Agriculture contributes massively to every country’s development and Ghana is no exception, Ghanaian farmers over decades have provided and contributed to the food chain of the nation.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on the importance of the celebration of farmers day in the country, Madam Mary Tetteh, a vegetable vendor at the Takoradi market said, farming and fishing contributed to Ghana’s economic growth, therefore National Farmer’s Day was worth celebrating.
She said: “Farmers are important people that need all the recognition and acknowledgement there is since most of the food crops consumed in the country are as a result of their hard work”.
Madam Tetteh appealed to the government to provide farmers and fishers with the requisite incentives that would make the Agric business easier, lucrative, and less stressful for farmers.
She added that agricultural education by the government should be intensified to enable farmers work with the needed skills and tools, adding that education on the use of fertilizers and pesticides for growing crops by farmers must be checked and monitored.
Madam Tetteh alleged that, because farmers used fertilizers in excess, most food crops, especially vegetables usually rot within a brief period on the market shelves resulting a loss.
Madam Tetteh was hopeful that the region’s hosting of this year’s farmers day would bring significant development in the farming and other agrobusinesses in the region.
Madam Fati Bukari another vegetable seller, pointed out that locally produced vegetables, especially carrots and bell peppers, do not last long on the market as compared to the foreign ones.
“The use of fertilizers and other chemicals by our farmers is becoming too much thus, most crops get rotten even before they get to the market for sale”, she said.
Madam Charlotte Sam, a fish monger and vendor at the Takoradi market said, even though farmers were doing well by providing Ghanaians with food, much was still expected from them.
She explained that frozen fish had become the preferred fish for smoking and consumption, because the local fishers have resorted to chemicals and inappropriate fishing methods.
“We cannot smoke sea fish any longer because of the chemicals used, it causes our body to itch once we start preserving it and the taste of the fish even changes due to the use of chemicals” she said.
On the importance of farmers day awards, Madam Sam said, the awards ought to be devoid of biases, adding that every farmer in the country irrespective of their status must be recognized and acknowledged duly for their hard work towards economic growth and development.
She added that the awards given must be significant enough to motivate farmers and fishers to give of their best, adding that “no farmer should be left out when awards are being given on an occasion like Farmer’s Day.”
The traders therefore appealed to the government, NGO, and stakeholders to intensify the Farmer’s Day Celebration by making more provisions that would motivate and encourage Ghanaian farmers to increase production.
The 2023 National Farmer’s Day, which marks the 39th edition would be climaxed on Friday December 1, 2023, at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa by an awards and dinner night;
The National farmers day at the national level was celebrated in a day, this was however revised to five -day agricultural fair and durbar on the theme “Delivering smart solutions for sustainable food security and resilience.”
GNA