STOP ANTAGONIZING THE GENERATIONAL THINKER - DR. OWUSU AFRIYIE AKOTO, GHANA'S ALL TIME BEST AGRIC MINISTER - EWEGHANA It is much regrett...
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| STOP ANTAGONIZING THE GENERATIONAL THINKER - DR. OWUSU AFRIYIE AKOTO, GHANA'S ALL TIME BEST AGRIC MINISTER - EWEGHANA |
It is much regrettable to deliberately smear the hardworking and Ghana's all time best Agric Minister, in the person of Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto with preposterous propaganda emitting from some dunderheads and nation wreckers within the ruling party, NPP, NDC and media, aimed at running down his personal integrity and as well the flagship program, "Planting for Food and Jobs" PJF.
Undoubtedly, under the regime of H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Agric ministry has distinguished itself and has been the backbone to Ghana's economy with numerous flagship and innovative policies which have had huge impacts on Ghanaians. The brain behind such innovative policies is the man called Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the current Minister for Food and Agriculture.The NPP led government, lost greater Accra region in the last elections but put up resilient performance in the farming regions due to the innovative policies spearheaded by Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto at the Agric ministry.
Policies such as "Planting for Food and Jobs, Rearing for Food and Export", "Greenhouse Farming", "One District, One Warehouse - from 24,000 metric tonnes capacity to 124,000 with 81,000 under construction and are of various completion stages", "Planting for Export and Rural Development" are some of the policies rolled out by the outfit of the minister. All these are clear manifestation of ensuring food security, job creation to reduce the unemployment and poverty rates in Ghana.
The initiatives from the Food and Agricultural Ministry also include supply of free seeds and seedlings, fingerlings, piglets, Coconut seedlings, palm seedlings. Another additional boost to the agriculture sector is the setting up of Tree Crop Board to take charge of streamlining the tree crop plantations such as Cashew, Coconut, Mango, Rubber, Shea butter etc.
It is infantile and contemptuous for some tawdry entities to attribute the fertilizer smuggling on the Agric minister that crosses our borders when we know clearly it is purely a crime and a matter of security concern. The question is, what are the Municipal/District Security Councils together with the Regional Security Council doing to check and put to stop such cross border illegal activities.
Matters of intelligence with regard to crimes are purely security matters, and the security intelligence are to ensure that people and assets within the district, municipal and regional levels are protected.
The Minister for Food and Agriculture on working tour to the Upper West region, charged the Regional Minister who is in charge of REGSEC to put a check to those crimes for punitive actions. The Upper West Regional Minister, assured the Agric Minister with full cooperation from REGSEC, adding that any fertilizer truck detailed from the ministry to his region must first report to the regional coordinating council for stocktaking and further policing it to it various destinations.
The question is, what is the counterpart regional minsiter(s) doing as the head of REGSEC?
Another aspect is the conscious malevolence that underpins the attribution of the so called high cost of food in the urban center in Accra to the Minister for Food and Agriculture without giving credence to the fact that the nation could not have all season farming.
Inspite of all these mishaps, with innovativeness, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto secured grant from Israeli government to roll out greenhouse farming that is complementing the growth of our agriculture in the area of vegetable growers with some 30,000 farmers. There is no scarcity or food shortage in Ghana and food security is guaranteed with no importation of foods into the country for domestic usage. Maize, Yam and other food crops have started springing up inspite of late rains.
The achievements under the legendary leadership of Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto is unmatched in the history of Ghana and that has put Ghana amongst the fourth best agricultural nations in the world and second in Africa. He has received global recognition with his pro poor policies being rolled out in the agricultural sector and for the first time, we have unprecedentedly seen such numerous flagship programs running at a go
The cocoa sector has performed marvelously well and first of it's kind, Ghana's Cocoa production has hit over one million metric tonnes and by the end of the year we shall be recording between 1.2 to 1.3 million metric tonnes as projected by Blomberg. This is under the distinguished leadership of Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
We must begin to appreciate generational thinkers and honour glory to them whilst alive than always bastardizing them and only give them plaudits after they are no more.
The only sector that is holding forth for the economy is the Food and Agricultural Ministry and the onus lies on the nation to channel resources to ensure that all time farming season is achieved before long.
Unlike Gen. I.K Acheampong and Col. Banasco who are only remembered with "Operation Feed Yourself", H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto shall be remembered with " Planting for Food and Jobs", "Rearing for Food and Job", " Planting for Export and Rural Development, "Greenhouse Farming", "Tree Crop Mechanization" and etc.
These are monumental achievements are worthy of praise than these uncivilized rancor on the persona of a generational thinker like the legend Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
We must desist from engaging in the "pull him down syndrome" and support the generational thinker to propel our country forward.
I salute the current Minister for food and Agriculture, Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto for such monumental policies he is superintending and have been efficiently espoused at the ministry.
... www.EweGhana.Net
By Fred Boadi
0509703388
fredrick.boadi@yahoo.com.
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