This is to be given to the Second National Best Farmer Best Farmer, as a reward, a category the Bank has supported over the years. Mr Lawrence Agyinsam, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, said the donation was in fulfilment of their promise to requisitely support farmers and industrialisation in the country.

“Our inspirations stands from the fact that the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme has been successful and that our farmers are very hardworking and, deservingly, they require support from institutions like ours to able to deliver,” he stated.

“It is not just a tractor but one with accessories, where the farmer will be able to use it and plough without encountering problems”. He said the prize would thus double the farmer’s proceeds and increase his overall productivity in bid to improve agricultural sector.

The many efforts to support farmers, he said, would yield good results by facilitating industrialisation, foreign exchange earnings and most importantly, the creation of jobs. Mr Agyinsam congratulated farmers for their work towards agricultural development as well as those committed to the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme.

Mr Kennedy Osei Nyarko, a Deputy Minister of Agriculture, expressed his gratitude to the Bank and encouraged them to continue with their usual support to the sector. The National Farmers’ Day was instituted 34 years ago to annually acknowledge farmers and the other operators in the agricultural sector, on the first Friday in December, for their contribution towards economic growth.

Statistics from the Bank of Ghana reveal that the sector contributes about 36 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and generates 55 per cent of foreign exchange earnings. It also employs about 51 per cent of the labour force and is the major source of income and employment for 70 per cent of the rural work force.

Exim Bank Ghana was established to help improve the country’s export competiveness to rake in the requisite foreign exchange and improve the national balance of trade by collaborating with other Exim Banks across the globe.