Agriculture in Ghana has over the years been undertaken mainly by rural folk as a subsistence activity rather than a commercial venture – despite being the backbone of the economy for years.
The sector has, thus, been unattractive to especially the educated youth who could apply their academic knowledge to boost productivity. The Agricultural Economist believes this trend could be reversed to help reduce the high unemployment levels in the country if government makes agriculture attractive as a business by way of policies.
“The young men and women are so intelligent and know what they want. You can’t force them into agriculture. Just ensure there is good market for agricultural produce whilst creating a conducive environment for people to venture into agriculture. Agriculture provides jobs for all including even the lowlevel labor force.
Ghana has a very young population that are largely unskilled. So to get jobs for such persons, agriculture is critical and that’s why agriculture remains important in all economies aside from providing raw materials, food etc.” he stated.
We are mismanaging our lands. The arable lands are reducing and falling in the hands of estate developers.
As in any other endeavor, human capital is critical in growing the sector – prompting calls for recruitment of more extension officers. Currently, the extension officer to farmer ratio is 1:1500 – compared with 1:500 standard by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
In a bid to bridge the gap, the current government in 2017 lifted the ban on employment of extension officers – recruiting approximately 3,000 more to support the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.
