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Nana Yaw Siribour I, the 2022 National Best Farmer, says he is committed to helping young people in agriculture modernize the industry in their nation.
The Akyempimhene of Juaben further pledged to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and to support government initiatives by involving youth in practical training to teach them best practices while addressing major issues in agriculture, particularly climate change, pest disease control, and post-harvest losses.
This claim was made by the National Best Farmer on Saturday, December 3, 2022, after receiving his award, during his first radio interview on Koforidua-based Afeema FM with Kaakyire Kwasi Afari.
The CEO of Siribour Farms hinted at engaging with the media and other stakeholders to promote agriculture in order to inform and draw in more young people to the field.
When questioned about the difficulties facing agriculture in Ghana, he said that the ongoing increase in the price of agricultural inputs including fertilizers, insecticides, and farm machinery was having a negative impact on cocoa output and costing them significant amounts of money.
He reiterates his belief that government should work to make agriculture “sexy” for the younger generation through higher reward, innovation, incentives, and motivation for the industry.
He urged the government to step in and make agricultural supplies easily available so that farmers could raise their yields and generate sufficient revenues.
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.
In order for them to profit from the most recent farming technology and other advantages, farmers have been pushed to seek institutional help.
According to Nana Siribour, conventional agricultural practices in the past did not provide the necessary profits, which made farming unappealing to young people. He explained this to Kaakyire Kwasi Afari.
The introduction of government flagship programs like Planting for Food and Jobs, One-District-One Warehouse, Planting for Export and Rural Development, Rearing for Food and Jobs, among others, had done a lot to enhance output in his region. He also urged the young to benefit from these policies.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com/Kaakyire Kwasi Afari
