Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, the Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, has urged Ghanaian youth to play an active role in advancing the country’s agricultural sector.
She said the youth possessed the strength and capability to lead the development of the country’s food system.
Ms. Akosa made this call during the closing ceremony of this year’s National Agricultural Fair, Agrifest Ghana, which took place from November 4th to 8th in Accra.
The fair was part of the celebrations marking the 40th edition of National Farmers Day.
The five-day event, organized by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), and Agrihouse Foundation, brought together various stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
This year’s theme, “Building Climate-Resilient Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security”, focused on promoting agricultural practices that address the challenges posed by climate change.
Around 190 exhibitors participated in the fair, which highlighted a wide range of agricultural produce, including foodstuff, fertilizers, livestock, aquatic foods, machinery, among other things.
Ms. Akosa urged the youth to join the movement for a youth-led and youth-driven action system, emphasizing the importance of making their voices heard and contributing meaningfully to the growth of the food system.
She noted that this active participation would encourage the government and other agencies to entrust more programs, such as the agricultural exhibitions, to the youth.
“The youth keep demonstrating that if we are given the opportunity, we can deliver, but when we are not given, nobody knows our strength,” she stated.
Ms. Akosa explained that for Agrihouse Foundation, being entrusted with the responsibility of organizing the exhibition served as an inspiration for the youth to take up challenges and assume leadership roles in the agricultural sector.
“Over the years we have served on the planning committee, but for the first time we were given the mandate.
“For us it has been challenging because it was a later call… And for us to be able to deliver under one week indicate that if we even had ample time, we could have done a lot,” she said.
Ms. Akosa said at previous exhibitions there had been an imbalance between the representation of the crop value chain and the fisheries and aquaculture, but there was an improvement this year.
“There is always an imbalance. Last year the representation was a bit low, but it has gone up a bit this year,” she noted.
Ms. Annette Ahadzi, an exhibitor, said the event was successful, she made a lot of sales and had people who wanted to ‘do’ business with her company.
Madam Christabel Darko, a representative from the Oti Regional Agriculture Department, advised the organisers to invest in publicity for more positive results.
Certificates of participation were presented to the exhibitors.
GNA
