Source: Emma Ankrah

Fifty-seven-year-old Charity Akortia, a mixed farmer from the Agona West District of the Central Region has been adjudged best farmer at the 39th National Farmers’ Day celebrations.

Madam Akortia took home GH₵1 million sponsored by the Agriculture Development Bank, along with other prizes.

The first runner-up, Theophilus Ezenrane Ackah from Jomoro in the Western Region took home a high horsepower tractor head, trailer, a set of implements, and a boom sprayer sponsored by the Ghana Exim Bank, while the second runner-up received an MF tractor head, trailer, and a set of implements sponsored by Stanbic Bank.

This year’s Farmers Day celebration was held at Tarkwa on the theme “Delivering Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Security and Resilience.”

Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who graced the occasion handed over the prizes to the awardees of the day.

He congratulated them for their sacrifices in feeding the nation, adding that the celebration of Farmers Day must remind citizens of the goal of addressing food security. He said the new dynamics call for new strategies to realise national goals of food security.

“As we honour our heroic farmers and co-actors in the agricultural value chain, we must remember that the new dynamics necessitate new solutions to achieve our food security, resilience, job creation, poverty reduction, and prosperity goals.”

He also noted that the agriculture sector is the cornerstone of the Ghanaian economy.

“Ghana’s experience in the agricultural front demonstrates the government’s unwavering commitment to transform the sector and place it on a sound footing of accelerated development. These efforts that the government has put in since 2017 have yielded notable success through the flagship programme, planting for food and jobs.

“When you look at the average growth rate of Ghana’s agricultural sector from 2013-2016, it was 2.9%, but when we implemented the PFJ in 2017, the average growth rate from 2017 to 2022 was 6%. The significant growth rate enhanced school food security, increased job opportunities and supported emerging industries with raw materials“, he noted.

Also, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong stated that the government is putting in place the necessary measures to sustain the gains made in the agricultural sector.