Farmers at Kintampo in the Bono East region have advocated for an increase in investment in Ghana’s agricultural sector as the corona virus pandemic cases increase and countries are going into total lockdown.

Ghana has recorded 11 confirmed cases of people testing positive to the corona virus and the farmers expect the situation to motivate an improvement and revamp in the country’s agricultural sector.

The farmers are worried that the government has not announced any plans of increasing food production as against the global issue at hand. Their worry enquires if the country has enough food to feed its population in case the pandemic travels beyond five months.

“We wake up to the reality of other countries, in their quest to contain this pandemic go into total lockdown. This will have a serious impact on Ghana and an effect on the importation of food products,” a farmer said.

The National Best Agroforestry farmer 2019, Robben Asare pleaded with the government to increase investment in agriculture and speed up the circulation of subsidized fertilizers, seedlings, and pesticides to farmers.

Mr. Asare noted that the youth constitutes the majority of the population, and without employment, productivity in the country will be low. He suggested that as a country aiming at socio-economic development, there is the need to empower the youth to be able to run with ideas and grow businesses.

“Ghana requires a new generation of thinkers and achievers to end extreme poverty and hunger on the continent” he added.

The farmers reminded the government about Ghana’s historic woe in 1983 and are of the view it could be repeated if rapid measures in agriculture aren’t implemented in the face of the COVID-19. They urged all farmers to adhere to all precautionary measures to stay safe.

By: Reuben Quainoo.