The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Yaw Frimpong Addo, who launched the celebrations on behalf of the sector Minister, said the annual event was a testament to the tremendous contribution made by the country’s hard working farmers and the vital role they play in our nation’s development.

This year’s celebration, which is the 38th edition, he explained, would be under the distinguished patronage of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, and promises to be a momentous one as the country seeks to harness the power of innovation and technology to improve the organisation of the national award event.

The minister stated the need to stand in solidarity with the hard working farmers whose sacrifices, perseverance, and tireless efforts ensure our sustenance, adding, “We cannot take for granted the constant supply of our food and nutritional needs by our farmers in spite of the numerous challenges they face,” He added.

Mr Addo said the issues of land owner­ship, limited access to market and finan­cial services, effects of climate change, post-harvest losses, high cost of input, and low return on investment, among others should push the country to appreciate farm­ers even more. .

According to him, the broad objectives of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) were to boost productivity, guarantee food security, produce ample raw materials for sustained industrialisation, promote exports, and generate job opportunities, particularly for our teeming youth, and after six years of implemen­tation, there have been notable successes.

The Deputy Minister stated that the birth of the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative which was outdoored last month by the President in Tamale would certainly change the face of Ghana’s agriculture.

The Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Moses Anim, speaking at the ceremony, commended the various sponsors whose contributions have improved the awards presented to the hard working farmers and fishers to ginger them work harder.

He indicated that despite the massive contribution by the fish sector, it is still confronted with challenges of over fishing, marine pollution, illegal, unreported, unreg­ulated fishing, post-harvest losses, low value addition, high cost of fish feed and low technology and diversified farm species.

To address these challenges, Mr Anim said the ministry has developed a marine fisheries management plan (2023-2026) to restore depleted fish stocks, moratorium on new marine canoe entrants, development of electronic monitoring systems, construc­tion of a National Aquaculture centre and commercial farms trawl gear selectivity to help reduce the catch of juvenile fish.

The Deputy Minister assured of continued collaboration with all partners in order to garner solutions for the fisheries and agriculture sector toward sus­tained national food security.

The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko, said since the best always comes from the West, the region is ever ready to host the event.

The region, he stated, has started large scale rice farming, coconut and oil palm plantation and urged potential investors to contact the Western Regional Coordination Council for more insight into the agricul­tural potential of the region.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, handed over the organisational sword to Mr Darko.