The tractor and accessories, worth GH¢560,000, is a sponsorship prize for the second runner-up of the National Best Farmer.

Potential of agriculture

Presenting documents covering the machine, the Manager for Communications at Stanbic Bank Ghana, Kojo Larbi, said the bank’s support for the sector was anchored on the potential of agriculture to improve food security and provide jobs for economic sustainability.

“At Stanbic Bank, our purpose is that Africa is our home, and it is our responsibility to drive her growth.

“Doing this requires us to support sectors that are critical in driving growth and even though it is supported by data, it is also common knowledge that agriculture is the anchor of Ghana’s economy and has the potential to leapfrog the economy,” he said.

Continuous support

Mr Larbi said across the continent, Standard Bank had been leading agribusinesses by making a real difference in reducing food insecurity, bridging the unemployment gap and helping to grow the GDPs in the countries it operated in.

“We do this by supporting our agribusiness clients through deep sector expertise and driving sustainable agriculture.

 Our commitment to Africa’s agriculture sector finds expression in our support to the agriculture value chain and assisting small-scale farmers to drive economic growth, job creation, poverty alleviation and food security.

“In Ghana, Stanbic Bank, through its agricultural proposition, has been working to improve the agriculture sector across the agribusiness value chains.

With a deep understanding of the full range of activities within the sector, our knowledge-based approach has been aided by the deployment of smart digital solutions to scale up the state of agriculture,” he said. 

Mr Larbi said beyond that, the bank also leveraged the experience of its parent organisation, the Standard Bank Group, in agriculture funding to assist in the rollout of enhanced agriculture services and initiatives.

The bank also has support systems that augment the work of private extension officers in agriculture enterprise development.

“Massive investments in digitisation have proven useful in scaling the agribusiness value chain.

The bank, through its digitisation drive, has been able to deploy remote sensing, digitisation of small loans and generate insights from data to gain deeper understanding of the sector.

“This is being done because Stanbic Bank regards itself not only as a financier, but also as an enabler and integral contributor to the development and transformation of agriculture,” Mr Larbi stated.

Touching on the support of the bank, Mr Larbi said in the course of the last 15 years, the bank had consistently played a pivotal role in supporting the National Farmers Day celebration.

Receiving the documents, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Crops, Yaw Frimpong Addo, described Stanbic Bank as a star sponsor and commended the company for its consistency in supporting the celebration of the National Farmers Day.

 While inviting the bank to the event at Tarkwa, the minister encouraged Stanbic to continue to do more, saying that the agriculture portfolio of the bank was remarkable.