The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has taken a significant step to enhance agricultural extension services by procuring 500 motorbikes for distribution to agricultural extension officers across the country and Feed Ghana Coordinators.
These officers are the backbone of the Ministry’s efforts to disseminate vital information about new ideas and technologies in agricultural practices to farmers.
The first batch of 150 motorbikes was presented to extension officers at a ceremony held in Accra, with 30 of them specifically designed with gender-friendly specifications to support women extension officers.
The Sector Minister, Eric Opoku, who made the presentation, explained that the motorbikes would facilitate the movement of extension officers from their locations to wherever the farmers were, enabling them to educate farmers on best agricultural practices.
“If you deploy them to various districts and prevent them from having transport to reach the farmers in the hinterlands, the impact will be minimal. Based on this, the Ministry decided to procure the 500 motorbikes,” Mr. Opoku stated, emphasizing the importance of extension officers as intermediaries between research and farmers.
He urged the extension officers to utilize the motorbikes effectively, ensuring that Ghanaians, whose taxes funded them, would be pleased with the impact. Mr. Opoku also expressed concern about the current ratio of extension officers to farmers, noting that the international standard recommends one extension officer for every 500 farmers. However, in Ghana, one extension officer is responsible for nearly 1,500 farmers.
“Certainly, no individual can be effective under these circumstances. So, we have decided to recruit some Feed Ghana Coordinators to work under the supervision of our district directors to support them in educating the farmers and to help close the bridge between research and the farmers,” he explained.
On the topic of farmer cooperatives, Mr. Opoku highlighted the Ministry’s success in registering 42,822 farmer cooperatives across the country. He explained that these cooperatives would play a crucial role in increasing food production in the country. The Minister further emphasized the government’s commitment to strengthening the country’s agriculture fundamentals.
In line with this, the Ministry has procured modern equipment to support soil testing in various districts, aiming to avoid blanket fertilizer application that has not led to enhanced production and productivity in the sector. Additionally, the Kumasi Soil Laboratory is being upgraded to meet international standards, which will enable effective soil management.
The West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) Project Coordinator, Osei Owusu Agyeman, explained that the programme aims to address food insecurity in the sub-region and build a system that works together to provide daily meals for people. He noted that each country in ECOWAS was expected to have a project as part of the programme, with Ghana’s project focusing on sustainability, ownership, and public-private engagement.
The Deputy General Manager of Qualiplast Limited, Andrea Akl, spoke about the various agricultural products they produce that benefit farmers, underscoring the importance of private sector participation in supporting the agricultural sector.
