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 Ms Xingwala (middle, front row), the High Commissioner and the farmers
Ms Xingwala (middle, front row), the High Commissioner and the farmers

Promote agriculture to ensure country’s survival — South African High Commissioner

The South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms Lulama Xingwana, has entreated Ghana to place a high premium on agriculture to ensure the survival of the country.

According to her, Ghana can learn a lot from South Africa, in terms of commercial agriculture, as both countries are  agricultural driven economies.

“Any country that cannot feed itself is in serious crisis. And that a country could survive — and indeed countries are surviving — without manufacturing but no country can survive without agriculture,” Ms Xingwana said when the leadership of the National Farmers and Fishers Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG) paid a courtesy call on her.  

MoU with MoFA

Ms Xingwana disclosed that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and its South African counterpart were currently working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would facilitate imports and exports of agriculture produce between the two countries.

To boost commercial agriculture, she said, the ministry responsible for agriculture in South Africa had set funds aside for farmers to acquire inputs such as seeds, equipment, chemicals and land, while a bank had been established purposefully to provide funds for farmers at a very low interest. 

Additionally, she said the South African government’s Department of Trade was responsible for value addition to agriculture produce. 

Ms Xingwana extended an invitation to the association members to visit South Africa on a study tour to learn new farming technologies, share knowledge with their South African counterparts and visit major agricultural institutes and farmer associations in the country.  

Goals of NFFAWAG

Nene Davies Narh Korboe, on behalf of NFFAWAG, highlighted the goals and objectives of the association and complained about the high interest rates charged by Ghanaian banks on loans to farmers, which made it difficult for them to access credit. 

He stated that plans were far advanced to reach out to other farmers associations in other countries such as Holland, Brazil and USA in a bid to give the Ghanaian farmer some exposure.

Nene Korboe also touched on the criteria used to select the National Best Farmer which included farmers who had invested in all round agriculture— crop, livestock and fisheries.

He urged other award winners to join the association because of the immense benefits they stood to gain.

Nene Korboe noted that Ghana needed  to emulate South Africa’s agriculture-led industrialisation.

The delegation was led by the Chairman of the association, Nene Korboe, the 2009 National Best Farmer. Other members included NFFAWAG’s Council of Elders Chairman, Mr A. Alogodongo (the1996 Best Farmer), as well as the 2015 and 2014 winners Mr Ibrahim Musah and Mr George Amankwah, respectively.

 

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