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Robert Crentsil is national best farmer 2016.
Robert Crentsil is national best farmer 2016.

A matter of ‘business-as-usual’, but better bait needed

My congratulations to the 2016 National Best Famer, Mr Robert Crentsil and his wife, of course, as I’m sure he counts on her a lot as his helpmate; and to all other 2016 Farmers Day award winners. 

However, I’m very disappointed that yet again, the major awards went to the big-time farmers. When is the Farmers Day awards scheme going to reflect the nation’s urgent need to attract ‘small-time’/peasant farmers and the youth? 

This is a nation trying to woo the youth into farming, and yet the big rewards are still the preserve of the commercial farmers! The fast dwindling numbers of farmers is constantly being lamented, but is enough being done to encourage the young farmers, and to attract new entrants into agriculture?

Significantly, speaking at the Farmers Day durbar in Kintampo a week ago, after he had received his award, Mr Crentsil “appealed to the government to make farming more attractive to the youth …..” (Ghanaian Times, November 5).    

Another group that deserves attention is the small-scale or peasant farmers, as I have suggested a number of times in this space. For example, in April, last year, I wrote: 

“Where there are loans for agriculture, how many small farmers qualify under the terms?

“And after they have toiled to grow the food, overcoming all sorts of hazards, bringing the produce home presents another huge problem because of bad roads, high transport fares and, or, lack of transport ….

“Successive governments have been lamenting the exodus of rural youth to the urban areas, the decrease in the number of people taking up farming, but little is done to improve the lives of small farmers or make life in rural communities more appealing.

 “Although for more than three decades Ghana has been celebrating its farmers through the annual Farmers Day, held in December, the ones who get the highest recognition and the major rewards are the big-time farmers. 

“They are rewarded with impressive prizes such as a house, car or tractor, although they are people of substance already, who clearly don’t need those incentives to continue doing what they do as they’re in commercial farming.

“Anybody who has experience of rural life knows that small farmers are virtually killing themselves for family, community and country, but their earnings can never build them a house. 

“Thus it’s strange that our Farmers Day is not being used to attract new blood into farming, by giving small farmers better rewards – in the form of a house, a vehicle or tractor. What is the essence of celebrating the nation’s farmers if it’s not to serve as encouragement and attract new people, if it’s just to preach to the converted? 

 “Evidently, despite (the acknowledgement of the International Fund for Agricultural Development) that about 80 per cent of the food in developing countries is produced by small-holders, they are the most unrecognized and least rewarded. 

 “When are we going to discard the ‘business-as-usual’ attitude and introduce creative ways to give encouragement to that crucial group, the small farmers, who are so deserving of the nation’s appreciation and realistic rewards? (Column of April 17, 2015 ‘Of those who feed the nation but who are ‘the most hungry’).”

The awards committee needs to offer better bait to encourage the youth already in agriculture and the small-holders; as well as attract more young people.   

 A matter of ‘temper’ and ‘tamper’

And another ‘Well done!’ seems to be in order; this time to Voltic Ghana Limited, producers of Voltic Natural Mineral Water, for correcting an error pointed out in this column recently.

I have noticed that Voltic is running a fresh set of the newspaper advertisements advising their customers to make sure that what they buy is genuine Voltic, this time with the error corrected.

A few weeks ago, part of my column read:  

“In recent times, I have written articles in this column on the regrettable, ready acceptance of mistakes in text, including information on even governmental websites …. 

“Of course we all make mistakes. And those of us whose livelihood is linked to publications know too well how easy it is to make mistakes in writing ….   

“And sometimes even major organizations make glaring errors in their publicity material which, strangely, somehow escape their staff as well as the professionals in the media house publishing it. 

“(Recently) a full page colour advertisement in the Daily Graphic by Voltic, featured “temper” twice when clearly, judging by the message, the word they meant to use was ‘tamper’ (as in ‘tamper-proof’). 

“But, interestingly, the penultimate paragraph of the same advertisement had the correct word, ‘tamper’. So, Voltic, what happened?” (Column of September 23, ‘The Professor’s protest action’).

As stated, I have noted the revised lines in the new/old advertisement in some newspapers, with the correct word, ‘tamper’ (instead of ‘temper’). The amended text now reads: “Every bottle of Voltic Natural Mineral Water is sealed with a tamper-evidence seal ….”

“You need to make sure that every Voltic dispenser bottle you buy has the Voltic logo embossed on it and has a red cap sealed with the Voltic-branded tamper-evidence seal ….”

As the saying goes, ‘good show, Voltic’! It’s reassuring to know that some people do take notice of what columnists write.  

However, it would have been more admirable if the Voltic Public Relations Department had written to the one who pointed out the mistake, or even to the Mirror Editor, expressing appreciation for the correction. After all, it was not done out of malice; and it was evidently helpful to the company.

In my view, that is the professional and proper way Voltic Public Relations should have handled it, not sneak in a correction, apparently hoping that people would not see the difference. 

But I suppose one should not mind their ‘Nicodemus’ act. The important thing is that the shocking error has been corrected.  

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