President Akufo-Addo has urged young people in Ghana to enter agriculture and benefit from the program’s incentives as he launched the “Presidential Conference on Youth in Agriculture” on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
The President noted that youth unemployment was a challenge for the country and the government was committed to addressing the scourge through creative interventions like this agriculture program in his keynote speech at the conference to formally launch the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Youth Employment Agency’s (YEA) collaboration on the Youth in Agriculture program at the University of Ghana in Accra.
He consequently asked the young to support the drive to establish cooperatives and partnerships in order to reap the rewards of the program’s execution.
He said there was no justification for the young not to enter agriculture given the offtake structure and the incentive packages outlined in the plan.
Furthermore, he expressed hope that Ghana would see a substantial fall in food inflation to a single digit by the conclusion of his term in office. He projected that effective execution of the program will lead to an increase in food supply and a decrease in food cost in Ghana.
In his remarks, Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Employment, Labour Relations, and Pensions, also mentioned that agriculture held potential in alleviating young unemployment as the Ministry remained committed to examining all available options.
He said that using agriculture is one of the quickest ways to reduce unemployment because studies have shown that this industry is underutilized.
Mr. Kofi Baah Agyepong, the chief executive officer of YEA, urged young people to become engaged in agriculture.
He added that the purpose of the comprehensive incentive programs is to encourage young farmers to enter the industry and to combat the stigma that recent graduates who want to enter farming suffer.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Joseph Asare
