Make land available for farming – Solidaridad appeals to land owners
Regional Director of Solidaridad Network West Africa, Mr Isaac Gyamfi, has said access to land for agricultural production is becoming a major challenge in Ghana.
He explained that, those who want to venture into farming did not have access to land whiles farm lands were being destroyed to pave way for construction of estates, a situation hindering agriculture production in the country.
“Currently, Solidaridad is working with the Sefwi-Wiawso Traditional Council in making sure that people who work in cocoa farms in the West Region would have access to the land.
“We are helping through mapping, documentation and legal documents to cover farm lands to ensure that this development does not affect farmers in the region,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi said this last week Friday, when addressing the media at a health walk organised by Solidaridad, a non-governmental organisation that engages farmers with innovative solutions to improve production.
He said agriculture was the backbone of Ghana’s economy with half of the population employed by the sector, hence, the implementation of the law to protect farms.
“We know the sector has serious challenges with ageing population whiles many of the young population are not interested in going into agriculture.
“It has been seen as a sector where people think they cannot make a livelihood. Solidaridad is projecting that it is possible to make wealth through agriculture,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi mentioned that 60 per cent of Africa’s youth were below the age of 30, therefore the call to create the enabling environment to encourage the youth into the sector.
“We in Solidaridad believe that three things must drive this type of effort to get the youth into agriculture. They are, showing the business case of agricultural production system through the provision of improved technologies and access to those technology to enhance production.
“Also, addressing the financial gap for people to easily get funds to invest into the sector as well as looking at land reforms and land appropriation systems that allow the youth to have access to lands,” he said.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN
