Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Election 2024, says his administration will support farmers in Ghana with tractors and credit to boost food production and reduce prices.
During a campaign rally in Wa East in the Upper West Region, Dr Bawumia acknowledged the vital role farming played in ensuring food security and affordability in the country.
He emphasised that farming was pivotal in bringing down food prices and pledged to provide farmers with the necessary resources to increase crop yield.
Dr. Bawumia cited the examples of Brazil and China, where food growers produced 10 and 12 tonnes of maize per acre, respectively, compared to Ghana’s average yield of four tonnes per acre.
To address that disparity, the NPP flagbearer promised to introduce modern farming practices similar to what pertained in Brazil and China to Ghanaian farmers.
He announced plans to establish “super aggregators” that would purchase farm produce directly from farmers to ensure they received fair prices and reduce post-harvest losses.
Dr Bawumia highlighted the importance of using lime fertilizers to improve soil fertility, noting that Ghana had abundance of lime deposits.
“I want to help our farmers. Farming is the key to bringing food prices down and we are going to help the farmers increase their productivity. If you go to Brazil, an acre of land, maize can come to 10 tonnes, in China they can get 12 tonnes, but in Ghana, we get only four tonnes,” he said.
“I’m going to apply the practices that we are seeing have worked in Brazil and China to our farmers in the Wa East District to increase productivity.”
“We are going to establish super aggregators who will come and buy the produce from the farmers so that the food does not go to waste, and they can get good prices for their goods.”
“We are going to help the farmers with tractors and with credit for them to harvest and we are going to move from the normal fertiliser to lime, lime makes our soil very fertile, and we have lime in Ghana, and we are going to help our farmers use lime in Ghana.”
GNA