President John Mahama will officially unveil the Farmer Service Centres, an initiative of the government, in August this year to support farmers with modern agriculture equipment and technology.

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, who announced this, said the design of the centres, together with other arrangements had been completed to pave the way for their operationalisation.

He said that per the initiative, every agricultural district would have a fully equipped centre, including machines and inputs to help boost food production in the country.

Event

Mr Opoku was speaking during an interaction with some farmers and media practitioners in Kumasi in the  Ashanti Region.

The engagement, which was also attended by some academicians and students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), was aimed at highlighting key agricultural policy initiatives rolled out by the government to boost food production and ensure food security.

It was also to court the support of the media towards the effective and efficient implementation of the government agricultural interventions, particularly, the Feed Ghana Programme.
Earlier, the minister, who was accompanied by some officials of the ministry and other dignitaries, paid a courtesy visit to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the Manhyia Palace.

Campaign promise

The establishment of the Farmer Service Centres was one of the campaign promises by President Mahama during the 2024 electioneering.

He said the centres would play a pivotal role in transforming agriculture by providing farmers with access to the latest technologies, equipment, and inputs.

The initiative also aligns with the NDC’s broader Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda. 

Exchange of visits

The minister said he had already visited Brazil and Belarus to engage with the governments of both countries on best practices to support the initiative.

He said there had since been a follow-up visit to Ghana by a team from Belarus to test the soil and study the country’s climatic conditions to enable them to design tractors and other agricultural equipment that can stand the test of time.

Mr Opoku said: “As a government, we will offer the required support to farmers to shore up the agricultural sector”.

On irrigation, he said that although 1.9 million hectares of land could be put under irrigation, only 226,000 hectares had irrigation facilities in the country, adding “Currently, only five per cent of the land has proper irrigation facilities”.

For instance, 27 communities in the Ashanti Region had been earmarked for irrigation facilities to enable farmers in beneficiary areas to engage in all-year-round farming, Mr Opoku said.

Additionally, he said the EU and the French government had jointly provided €47 million for the construction of irrigation infrastructure in northern Ghana to help improve agricultural production.

Under the project, Mr Opoku said 10 new dams would be constructed, eight existing ones rehabilitated and expanded, while 47 solar-powered mechanised boreholes would be constructed to support farmers.

Similarly, he said the ministry was working to secure funding for the construction of an additional 2,000 solar-powered mechanised boreholes nationwide to support farmers in their agricultural activities.

Appreciation

The Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Richard Ofori Boadi Agyeman, commended the delegation for the engagement and pledged the region’s support to policies tailored towards increasing food production in the area.