Emmanuel Hanson Oklu adjudged Greater Accra Best Farmer
Emmanuel Hanson Oklu, 54, has been adjudged the Greater Accra Regional Best Farmer at this year’s regional Farmers’ Day celebration at Dodowa in the Shai Osudoku District.
Mr Oklu was presented with a Motor King tricycle, a mist blower, a 2,500-litre poly tank, three wheelbarrows, a boom sprayer, four machetes and five knapsack sprayers among other assorted items at the event held to celebrate the 38th National Farmers’ Day.
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The farmer, who also won the Overall District Farmer in 2020, is well known for the cultivation of tomatoes, watermelon, pepper, cassava, beans, mango, okra and rearing of livestock.
Best farmer
Mr Oklu expressed his gratitude to the assembly and the Regional Coordinating Council for showcasing and awarding him for his hard work.
He called on his fellow farmers to stand firm, having faith in their hard work even though the job was mainly full of risks and losses in the beginning.
Other farmers were awarded in categories such as best crop farmer, best livestock farmer and best home gardener amongst others both at the district and regional levels.
The Overall Best Farmer for the Shai Osudoku District was awarded to Pelyn Farms, with the District Best Female Farmer going to 52-year-old Comfort Kwao.
Awardees received items such as boots, shovels, machetes, television sets, freezers, bicycles, wheelbarrows and fertilisers.
The celebration which was coordinated by the RCC, in collaboration with the Shai Osudoku District, was on the theme: “Accelerating Agricultural Development Through Value Addition”.
Value addition
Addressing participants in the event, the District Chief Executive of Shai Osudoku, Fred Offei, stated that the theme for the celebration was timely as value addition was an important concept in the agriculture value chain, which could not be overlooked if the country intended to compete favourably on the global market.
“So I believe this seeks to drum home the commitment of the government to promote the processing of raw agricultural products, as by doing so we will derive optimum benefits from our agriculture and agribusiness sectors,” he emphasised.
Mr Offei congratulated the farmers for their hard work and recognition over the past years as he charged the farmers to explore the concept of adding value to their produce.
That, he explained, would not only enable them to create additional employment opportunities in the country to boost the economy, but also showcase that value addition in the agricultural sector was indispensable.
Agribusiness
The Regional Director for Agriculture, Eric Hudson Asamani, said agriculture remained the fuel that powered all activities in the region, offering several agribusiness opportunities to several people within the region and should, therefore, not be underestimated.
He stressed the need to support home-grown agribusinesses by continually patronising made-in-Ghana foods and encouraged the teaming youth to invest their time in the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative, especially in the area of value addition, since Greater Accra currently hosted the national market.