2022 National Best Farmer Poised to support Youth in Agric.
The 2022 National Best Farmer, Nana Yaw Siribour (I) says he is determined to support the youth in Agric towards modernizing agriculture in the country.
The Akyempimhene of Juaben also promised to engage the ministry of Agriculture and to support the government’s efforts by engaging the youth through hand on training to give them knowledge in best practices while addressing key concern in agriculture, especially climate change, pest disease control and post harvest loses.
The National Best Farmer made this assertion while sharing his experience as a farmer in his first radio interview on Koforidua based Afeema FM with Kaakyire Kwasi Afari, on Saturday, 3rd December, 2022 after his reward.
The Chief Executive Officer of Siribour farms hinted to engage with the media and other stakeholders to advocate agriculture to educate and attract more youth into the sector.
When asked about the challenges hindering agriculture in Ghana, he said, the continued rise in the cost of farm inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and farm machinery were affecting cocoa production, causing them to lose huge sums of money.
It is for this reason he reiterates his believe that government must endeavor to make agriculture “sexy” for the youth in terms of increased reward, innovation, incentives and motivation.
To this end he called on government to intervene to make farm inputs readily accessible and available to enable farmers to increase their yields as well as make enough profits.
According to the CEO, he has established Agric training center to train the youth in local agricultural skills with modern focus.
Nana Siribour said the system would help improve the living standards of the youth in “insecure communities” and observed that students from agricultural institutions lacked skills to transform the sector.
He said an agricultural education syllabus would be formulated to promote agriculture as a business rather than as a form of punishment in schools.
The National Best Farmer has urged farmers to adopt e-marketing to easily sell or find market for their produce even before harvesting since the system has changed into a global village.
He said searching for ready market to sell their produce after harvesting or even before will go a long way to help them enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Farmers have been urged to seek institutional support in order for them to enjoy latest farming technologies and other benefits.
He told Kaakyire Kwasi Afari that, in the past, farmers used traditional methods in farming that did not yield the needed profit.
That, according to Nana Siribour, made farming unattractive to the youth.
He also charged the youth to take advantage of government policies because, the introduction of government flagship programmes such as the Planting for Food and jobs, one-District-one warehouse, Planting for Export and Rural development, Rearing for Food and Jobs among others, had gone a long way to boost for production in his area.
By Kaakyire Kwasi Afari – Afeema FM
