WE SALUTE OUR FARMERS (DEC 5)

IN the face of the euphoria of the news of the discovery of oil in the country, many have come to believe that the exploitation of these hydrocarbons single-handedly holds the solution to the nation’s socio-economic problems.
The perception here is that so much money would accrue from the exploitation and sale of the oil that there would be enough funds to go round to dramatically improve the quality of life of the people.
This, at best, is an exaggeration of the potential of the nation’s oil resources and what they can do.
It is also important to note that in spite of their substantial agricultural potential, many nations, on striking oil, relegate the agricultural sector to the background as the petrol dollars flow in.
Some, on the exhaustion of the oil resources, return to a shattered agricultural sector completely incapable of meeting domestic requirements of food and raw materials, thereby deepening the nation’s reliance on external sources for these products.
We are happy that this unhealthy line of thinking is absent in our management of the national economy and that the government has not only emphasised its support for the agricultural system but has actually increased assistance to the sector.
As part of measures to streamline and modernise the sector to help increase productivity, the government plans to import about 3,000 tractors to augment those already in the country for the next farming season.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, who announced this in Tamale at the Silver Jubilee anniversary of the National Farmers Day, said while 31 combine harvesters had already been deployed on the fields, more were being assembled and that more facilities and support would be provided to position the sector to deliver even more to accelerate national development.
We are happy at the recognition and rewards accorded our hardworking farmers at yesterday’s event.
One area of action we are particularly happy with is the government’s setting up of a Buffer Stock Management Agency (BUSMA), which will purchase farm produce through private buying agents at guaranteed prices from farmers.
Over the years, farmers have been heeding calls to step up the production of basic crops such as maize, rice, millet, sorghum and cotton, only for them to have tens of thousands of tonnes of farm produce locked up in their barns and silos without market.
We recall that in the mid-1970s, in response to the Operation Feed Yourself (OFY) programme launched by the government of the National Redemption Council (NRC), many went into farming and the silos in the northern parts of the country were filled with rice, maize, sorghum, cotton, and other foodstuffs.
With no market for their produce, thereby not being able to repay loans contracted from the banks, most farmers went bankrupt and their property seized to defray their debts, leading to the collapse of their agribusiness.
With the BUSMA, farmers should be assured of a guaranteed market for their produce, which in turn will enable them to have decent earnings for their efforts.
The efforts of BUSMA to help farmers to market their produce and its engagement of private buying agents will create more jobs that will provide incomes for the unemployed and reduce poverty and thus increase social protection and stability.
We, in the face of these positive trends, believe that farmers would take advantage to expand their activity and modernise their agricultural methods to increase production so that many of our youth will see the agricultural sector as a rewarding area. This would motivate them to avoid drifting in droves to the cities for non-existent white collar jobs.