Ghanaian farmers and other agricultural stakeholders have been guaranteed that Dr. Bawumia’s administration will give their welfare the utmost consideration and assistance.
The vice presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, gave a resounding assurance that the party valued agriculture’s contribution to national development.
In this context, he has declared that Dr. Bawumia’s administration will put measures into place that will strengthen agribusinesses and greatly benefit all parties involved in that vital industry.
At Kejeji, in the Sene East district of the Bono East region, Dr. Prempeh, also known as “Napo,” said during his national campaign visit on Friday that agribusinesses will undoubtedly prosper.
He said that the next NPP government would not hesitate to provide the financial, technical, and other support required to help agribusinesses flourish in the nation.
“The potential for expanding and creating thousands of new jobs in agribusiness in response to the opportunities in food security and food exports, including in AgriTech, is significant.
“That’s why under Dr Bawumia’s presidency, we plan to make significant investments and reforms in the sector, including agricultural research, food production, food preservation, and value-addition”, he noted.
“We shall create agricultural enclaves in each region based on its competitive advantage via private sector collaboration,” he stated, outlining some of the major initiatives that a Bawumia-Napo government will take seriously to support agribusinesses.
In order to improve food production and delivery, the government, Napo, also made a public announcement that it will strategically invest in research and development of digital and Al technologies.
“This is aimed at improving production, reducing post-harvest losses, and packaging agricultural produce for freshness/longer shelf life as well as farming under arid conditions, and Agric mechanization”, he said.
Napo noted “We shall also redirect Development Bank Ghana (DBG) to expand its financing and guarantee lines, especially through the proposed SME Bank that we will set up.
“This bank will support entities engaged in manufacturing value-added agricultural products consumed in large quantities by Ghanaians, including the processing and packaging of basic agricultural foods”.
According to Napo, “through financing and guarantees from Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Share System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL)” the government will also expedite the establishment of agro-industries.
