National Farmers Day, a day set aside to recognize and appreciate the hard work and gallant efforts of our farmers, this year, fell on Friday the 7th December. On this anniversary, I doff my hat off to all the over 3 million Ghanaian farming households for all they have done over the years to feed Ghanaians. They have often worked under very trying conditions, indeed tried to do the impossible with very little. Considering that the agricultural industry employs more than half the active labour force in the country and contributes over a fifth of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) one would have thought it obvious that this sector presented low-hanging fruits that, with a little bit of investment, could yield the national economy considerable dividends.
However, successive governments essentially took farmers for granted and basically ignored their plight. Ghanaian agriculture remains steeped in the colonial era. Indeed one famous professor on the continent, in his usual eloquence, described farming practices in some communities as no different from what pertained during the time of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Majority of the farmers have small holdings – of course, that is what they can manage with the simple, rudimentary tools at the disposal, such as the machete, the hoe and the sickle. They have no access to improved seed but instead, save seed from the harvested crop of landrace varieties they have known for decades. No fertilizers are applied because they cannot afford them. Their crops are also at the mercy of diseases and insect pests as they cannot afford pesticides and insecticides either. Consequently, yields are low, indeed less than a third what is obtainable under optimal conditions. Post-harvest losses are huge. These farming villages are often cut off from marketing centres as a result of poor transport infrastructure which means that the roads to these villages are often unpassable during some part of the year, particularly the rainy season. So the very little produce these farmers manage to harvest is either left to rot or, sadly, their situation exposes them to exploitation by middlemen. No wonder the majority of these farmers live rather poor lives, and agricultural productivity has consequently declined over the years. The farmers have been taken for granted because they are not trained to do anything else. Thus they are resigned to the poor existence fate has handed them. All they ever needed was a bit of help.
This subject will be revisited, including some of the recent more positive developments in the sector. On this day, however, the objective is simply to congratulate and thank our valiant farmers for their fortitude and selfless devotion to the national cause. Whilst you could contribute immensely more than you are currently doing given the right assistance I, together with millions of Ghanaians, acknowledge that you have contributed more than your fair share to national development, and wish to simply say AYEKOO.
domestix 