By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
President Akufo-Addo has assured cocoa farmers in the country of massive support in the forthcoming cocoa season.
Addressing the nation in his State of the Nation address on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, February 27, President Akufo-Addo noted that under his administration, the price of cocoa has seen a great increment per bag from GHc800 to GHc1,300.
“Mr Speaker, we all witnessed the spectacular increment of the cocoa price from eight hundred cedis per bag (GH¢800) to one thousand, three hundred cedis (GH¢1,300) per bag in the current cocoa season, the highest increase in fifty (50) years. With the current trend of the world cocoa price, cocoa farmers can be sure that I will do right by them in the next cocoa season,” he said.
He also highlighted how his government is making agriculture attractive to the youth. He noted that the best way to make agriculture attractive to the youth is to take the drudgery out of farming, to which the government is solely committed.
“The surest way of making agriculture attractive to young
people is to take the drudgery out of farming, and Government is
continuing to make agricultural machinery and equipment easily available,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo also said the government will ensure that a better and more robust irrigation system is put in place to serve all identified agricultural zones in the country. This, he said, will be done through a government-private sector partnership.
“For each Agricultural Zone, Government will partner with the private sector to provide the necessary irrigation infrastructure, develop access roads, extend power (solar/hydro) and provide mechanisation services. Various locations across the country with potential to be food baskets have been identified for the establishment of the Agricultural Zones. They include Afram Plains, Tsopoli, Kumawu, Krachi, and Nkoranza, among others.”
