The flagbearer of the Independent People’s Party (IPP), Mr Kofi Akpaloo, has pledged to transform the nation’s agriculture - to boost production and returns, if voted to power.
He said his government would ensure massive investment in the agricultural sector by way of mechanization and construction of irrigation systems.
Additionally, there would be access to high yielding planting materials by farmers and this was going to be backed by agro-technology.
Mr. Akpaloo, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Kumasi, said there would be enough food for local consumption and export.
He stated that effort would be made to add value to the raw agricultural products to boost the foreign exchange earnings.
He expressed unhappiness with the decline of the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the last seven years – slumping to 19 per cent in September, 2015, from 31.8 per cent in 2009.
The IPP Presidential Candidate, said this was completely unacceptable and vowed to turn things around.
“We would make agriculture attractive and rewarding to entice the youth into the sector – the backbone of our economy”, he added.
He indicated that the “agricultural research institutions and training colleges would be equipped with the needed logistics and equipment to effectively perform”.
Mr. Akpaloo said they would also address problems in the fishing, and poultry industry and improve roads in the agricultural production areas for smooth transportation of the produce to the marketing centres.
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