The Mahama led NDC administration has failed Ghanaian farmers, the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has said in a statement Friday.
While congratulating farmers on Farmers’ Day celebration, the PPP said: “The Government’s own assertion that agricultural growth has fallen from 4.6% in 2014, to a far lower rate of 0.04% in 2015, is a clear indication of the failure by the NDC in addressing the needs of the farmer.”
“The NDC Government has proven in their 7 years of administration to be unfit to address the issue of the farmer and agriculture as a whole,” the statement signed by National Secretary Murtala Mohammed said.
It said: “The PPP believes the modernisation and transformation of our agriculture to augment productivity and assure food security and self-sufficiency is very important in the stabilisation of our economy.”
The party said when voted into office in the 2016 elections, “we will implement policies that will inure to the benefit of the farmer and also boost agricultural growth.”
“The PPP stands by its unshakeable commitment to use government’s purchasing power to support agriculture and local industry as a whole,” adding: “Any country that is not capable of feeding itself and exporting some of its produce cannot talk of economic development, let alone talk about social development.”
The party said successive governments have failed, over the years, to tackle issues regarding farming head on. “They have failed to look into the means of transporting foodstuffs from the growing areas to numerous markets across the country. Farmers in this country are bedevilled with inadequate road and rail infrastructure that will aid them sell their produce immediately to avoid rot and damages. This phenomenon leads to price hikes in foodstuffs and also abuse of farmers by some unscrupulous middle men.”
“Despite the hopelessness in the agricultural sector,” the PPP said: “We still congratulate you farmers of Ghana for your resilience and persistence in feeding the rest of us.”
Source: GhanaWeb
