The Municipal Chief Executive of Okaikwei North Municipality in the Greater Accra Region on Friday marked the 39th Farmers Day celebration with a tour of farms of past awardees.
This was to have firsthand information on the progress and challenges of the past best farmers in the municipality and to access the impact of their awards.
The visit is a detour from the long speeches and usual assemblage of farmers at a venue for awards without the privilege of appreciating the day to day concerns of the farmers.
The eight-hour visits saw the MCE Hon. Boye Laryea, the Municipal Coordinating Director, (MCD) Mr. Francis Mensah, Mrs. Beatrix Brown Quarshie, the Municipal Agric Director and other members of staff touring the farms of fourteen past best farmers.
They are: Aubrey Odametey; 2021, Best Youth Farmer; Patience Amu, 2019, Best Woman Farmer; Chief Inspector Samuel Yao Dzotsi; Issaka Farms, Best Livestock Farmer, 2020; Nurudeen Mohammed, 2022 Best Poultry Farmer; Simon Hatsi overall Winner, 2021 and Innocent Kudese, Best Agro-Processor, 2022.
The others are: John K. Kennedy, Best Poultry, 2022; Mary Anobea Asofu-Adjaye, Overall Winner 2020; Mrs. Constance Tengey, Best Processor, 2019; Amidu Azure Overall Winner, 2022; Yusif Amir, Best Poultry Farmer, 2021; Noah Owusu, Best Rabbit Farmer, 2019 and Ayisha Quaye, Best Woman Farmer, 2020.
The national celebration is on the theme, “Delivering Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Security and Resilience.”
The event is focused on celebrating farmers for their invaluable contribution to the development of the country.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the tour, Hon. Laryea stated that the tour was necessary to enable the Assembly to appreciate the challenges of the farmers and to offer solutions to the problems they face in their chosen field of endeavor.
The Okaikwei North Municipal Chief Executive while congratulating the farmers hinted that the Assembly early next year is set to organize Farmers’ Seminar to bring together all farmers.
The event he explained would be the biggest platform for the convergence of all farmers in the Municipality to meet, share ideas and address the challenges militating against their trade.
According to him, it is about time, the country modified the National Framers’ Day Celebration by channeling the resources for the national funfair to other profitable ventures with direct focus on farmers in the hinterlands.
He reiterated the need to support farmers in the country adding that all farmers facing some challenges will be supported by the Assembly.
Hon Laryea bemoaned the prevailing situation where farmers are unable to access funds from banks for their businesses; lack of ready markets for farm produce; lack of investors among others as setbacks to the farming business.
Madam Mary Asofu-Adjaye, the Overall Winner 2020 could not agree more with Hon. Laryea on the need to dedicate funds for the national celebration to the support of farmers in hard to reach areas in the country.
In the view of the 2020 Overall Best Farmer who stated that her award positively impacted her business, there are times awards given to farmers during the national celebrations are not the exact assistance the farmers require to address their challenges.
Madam Asofu-Adjaye lauded the MCE and his entourage for what she described as “coming to the field to see things for yourself”.
Poultry farmers the team visited complained about the high cost of feeds for their birds and called for support to keep them in business.
By Kofi Yirenkyi
