Allowances of agric college trainees will be restored — Minister
The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has assured students of agricultural colleges that they will not be left out of the government’s bid to restore trainee allowances.
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He said the government was aware of the frustrations trainees went through during their courses of study and would do everything possible within its power to relieve them from their economic hardships.
In a keynote address delivered on his behalf by one of his deputies, Mr George Boahen Oduro, at the seventh congregation of the Kwadaso College of Agriculture (KCA) in Kumasi at the weekend, Dr Akoto urged trainees to exercise restraint as the government took steps to address their challenges.
‘Planting for Food and Jobs’
The minister reiterated the government’s quest to build a resilient economy through agriculture, hence the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ campaign which was recently launched in Goaso in the Brong Ahafo Region by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He said so far over 200,000 farmers had been registered to participate in the programme this year and that 1,200 agricultural extension agents had also been engaged to assist farmers with essential agricultural practices that would enable them to maximise yields.
Dr Akoto said training and orientation programmes were underway and reaffirmed the ministry’s readiness to support stakeholders with the requisite logistics to enable them to work effectively and efficiently.
GETFund
Speaking on the theme: “Effective middle-level agricultural training: the key to the transformation and modernisation of the country’s agriculture”, the Principal of the KCA, Mr Ebenezer Tawiah, underscored the need for the government to adequately equip the agricultural colleges so that their full potential could be attained.
He said it was unfortunate that agricultural colleges were not beneficiaries of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and urged the government to reconsider that decision.
Appeal
The Ankobeahene of Nzema in the Ashanti Region, Nana Kankam Boadu, hailed the government’s ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ initiative, saying that if it was fully executed, it would rake in great returns from agriculture and boost the economy.
He appealed to the government to upgrade the KCA into a university in order for its competences to be realised.
