This year’s National Farmers’ Day is to be celebrated in Cape Coast, the Central Regional capital, to honour farmers who have been working hard over the years to ensure adequate output of food and raw materials for the country. Even though farming comes in various forms and is considered vital in economic development, the youth of today find it unattractive because it is perceived as too difficult and challenging. It is important to note, however, that people who have embraced farming over the years have been able to create wealth for themselves and the country as a whole. Apart from being able to produce food for the people of this country, they are able to sell their produce to earn some income. Farming may be in form of cultivation of crops, fishing and aquaculture, cultivation of crops for
export, as well as agro processing. The theme for this year’s National Farmers’ Day is: “Planting for Food and Jobs – Consolidating Food Systems in Ghana.” The theme is very important for a number of reasons. In the first place, Planting for Food and Jobs as a programme has helped this country tremendously. The country is able to feed itself and even export some of its foodstuffs to neighbouring countries. It is, therefore, necessary to continue and strengthen this programme so that adequate food supply will be
available for the country. Secondly, output in the agricultural sector should not remain in the raw form but processed further to let the output stay for a longer time. This way, other young people can take advantage to process it and add value to it. Here, the value chain can consist of a series of opportunities that can be exploited by people to create more jobs for the youth. One such opportunity is the establishment of storage facilities for the produce in the agricultural sector. Another one will be the provision
of transportation systems to help in conveying of the produce from place to place. It is important to ensure that every effort is made by the government to encourage all those who want to engage in serious farming. This is the only way to encourage the young ones to go into it. Apart from crop farming, we must also show interest in aquaculture so that different kinds of fish can be produced to feed us with balanced diets and make us healthy. As farmers are being encouraged through the various awards presented to them over the years, Ghanaians must see farming as an option that can serve as a means of livelihood to compete with white collar jobs. The Spectator congratulates farmers throughout the country and urge them to continue to work hard to feed our dear nation.