Associate Professor of Soil Fertility at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof Kwame Agyei Frimpong, has expressed deep concerns about the lack of investments in the agricultural sector.
He further lamented the huge investments pumped into beauty pageants and musical concerts, which benefit a few, calling on Ghanaians to invest in the agricultural sector as well.
Addressing participants during ‘The Swedru Conversations’ under the theme ‘Feeding Ourselves as a Nation,’ Prof Agyei Frimpong bemoaned the lack of support for the agricultural industry, calling for massive support for people in the value chain.
The event is an annual thought leadership program organized by the Alumni Association of the Swedru Senior High School, which took place on Monday, February 12, 2024, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra.
Prof Kwame Agyei Frimpong
“We need to rebrand agriculture, we need to view agriculture as a business as a sustainable and profitable profession. We should look at agriculture from the value chain perspective. In Ghana, we have a season of glut and seasons of scarcity. We need to develop infrastructure for distribution and storage. Some people have the money, imagine if this event was a beauty pageant, a musical concert, or some sports event, you cannot imagine what the attendance would have been.”
He stressed, “Even if people were supposed to pay through their noses, they would do it. But because it’s agriculture, see how many of us are here. That is how we treat our agricultural industry. But I dare say that those of us who decided to do agriculture even up to this point cannot hold our own very much against our contemporaries.”
Some Scenes from the event
Prof Agyei Frimpong advocated for the youth to venture into agriculture, arguing that there are more job opportunities in the sector than in other professions.
He also urged government to focus on agricultural training and not only STEM education.
“We have classmates who are lawyers, medical doctors, you name them, but we’re not poorer than they are. We can do maybe better than they do. I can tell you that for those of you who are students, there are perhaps even more opportunities in agriculture than there are in other professions,” he advised.Source: Leticia Osei
