Professor Edmund Sottie, a Principal Research Scientist at the Animal Research Institute of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), believes the country’s agricultural sector will thrive if the government invests adequately to make it more attractive.

Speaking on the topic ‘Opportunities in agricultural production in Ghana’ as part of the on-air series of the Citi Business Festival, Prof. Sottie said the interest in the sector is dwindling because it is perceived to be unrewarding.

“Ghana has been considered an agrarian country since its infancy because most people have been engaged in agriculture, especially in the crop field, both the cash and food crops sectors. When I was doing my bachelor’s degree, we were told that over 40 percent of our population engage in agriculture and its related industry. The percentage has gone down a bit.”

“Basically, we realised that many Ghanaians are engaged in one form of farming or the other, and there is a need to find out how to make it more efficient such that it will be sustainable enough for people who engage in it. Our rural folks who engage in farming are considered the poorest in the country. We need to look into it and repackage it into a proper income generation venture that will afford them a decent life enough.”

The Citi Business Festival is an extensive program of business events and on-air activities providing inspiration, business ideas, and information to persons who are starting, building, or growing their businesses.

The five-week-long festival features weekly events on various business themes.

This week’s focus is on ‘AgriBusiness – Feeding Ghana with a sound import substitution strategy.’

There will be a live virtual forum on agribusiness in Ghana on Tuesday, June 15 on Citi TV.

The forum will see James Boateng – Founder Kwafre Farms (Former National Best Farmer), Catherine Krobo Edusei – Agribusiness Entrepreneur and CEO of Eden Tree and William Nettey- Head of Agribusiness ABSA in the studio, while Kwesi Korboe – Agric Economist and MD of GIRSAL and Benjamin Gyan Kesse – Director of the Kosmos Innovation Center will be available via the zoom platform to answer all questions bothering on Ghana’s Agricultural Space.

The Citi Business Festival is powered by Citi FM, Citi TV, and Ghana’s most comprehensive business website citibusinessnews.com, and proudly sponsored by ABSA Bank with support from IT Consortium and GIPC.