Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto
A presidential candidate hopeful of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has observed that the agriculture sector of Ghana holds the key in tackling the massive unemployment among the youth today.
He noted that government therefore only needs to make the right levels of investment to make that dream become productive.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto made this observation at a town hall meeting organised by NPP, Canada branch.
He interacted with the party faithful on his vision for the NPP and Ghana as a whole.
The job opportunities in the agriculture sector, according to him, are enormous, and they include industrialization or agro processing, for that matter. He insisted that when proper investment is made in the sector, it will dramatically change the fortunes of Ghana.
“My vision is really targeted at the youth. To have an impact on the youth is to create job opportunities for them. The youth really need jobs, and the agriculture sector holds the key,” he noted.
Priority
He promised to prioritise the well-being of the youth under his leadership, with particular attention to the agricultural fortunes. The former Minister of Food and Agriculture said the approach to addressing the myriads of unemployment issues confronting the youth has to do with pragmatic policies.
He, therefore, gave the assurance that under his leadership, he will put in place policies that are geared towards prioritizing investment into the agriculture sector.
For instance, he said, the introduction and execution of the government’s flagship programme ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ (PFJ) had created more job opportunities for the teaming unemployed youth with life transforming effects.
“Everywhere I go, you see these young people thanking me for giving them opportunities to venture into agriculture. It is very gratifying to note that the opportunities are changing lives, especially when you go to the northern parts of the country,” he indicated.
Agric management team
Motivated by results that he got from the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ policy, Dr. Afriyie Akoto strongly proposed that under his leadership, as President of Ghana, he will set up an agriculture management team.
This team, he added, will consist of seven notable ministries that are all related to agriculture, including the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Ministry of Roads and Highways, and Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
“They will form a standby committee to ensure that enough public resources are located to ensure the transformation of agriculture which holds the key to creating more job opportunities to turn around our economic fortunes,” he noted.
Despite achieving success in the portfolio he handled, Dr. Afriyie Akoto revealed that one of his biggest disappointments was to see the declining fortunes of the poultry industry.
Poultry industry challenge
He said the biggest challenge confronting the poultry industry had to do with international trade, which he has little control over.
“I know the challenge the poultry farmers have gone through over the years to the extent that prices of poultry feed have more than doubled in some cases. Some have attributed the challenge to lack of enough maize whiles others too are saying it has to do with unavailability of soya beans,” he stated.
However, he pointed out that the country’s production of soya had gone up from 150,000 metric tons to 230,000 metric tons, which is commendable.
“The thing is that a lot of these things have to do with international trade. We are bringing chicken into this country at something like GHS14.00 per kilo when the total cost of production, currently, is more than GHS35.00 per kilo.
“With that, I cannot see how anybody can produce chicken in the European Union or America. You put it in a ship, bring it all the way to Tema and charge GHS14.00. Obviously, there is some distortionary burden somewhere,” he indicated.
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