A Seventy-one-year-old farmer from Diabenekrom, Moses Roosevelt Arhin has been adjudged the overall best farmer at the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis celebration of this year’s Farmers’ Day.
The Best farmer with 30 years of farming experience was given one motor-tricycle, five pairs of Wellington boots, ten cutlasses, a certificate, a cash prize of GHS1,000 among others.
The MP for Essikadu-Ketan, Joe Ghartey whose constituency hosted the farmers’ day event personally donated the cash prize of GHS1,000 to the overall best farmer as well as GHS500 to each of the remaining 15 award winners.
Joe Ghartey after presenting the prizes told Citi News the gesture is his little contribution to support the huge investment the government is already making in the agricultural sector.
“They have done well and the whole concept of farmers’ day was to encourage other farmers to work hard. They were given awards and as a Member of Parliament, I have also given them an additional award. This is not the first time I have done it and my motivation is to inspire other farmers to also continue working hard. We have completely revolutionized the agricultural sector. The Minister of Agric has just received the World Food Prize. It means that the world has recognized that our agricultural policies are the best in the world. A lot of people think that this Diabene community is just a middle-class community, and they don’t know that 10 miles inside, there are places who are doing farming. So I have a special programme for the farmers in my area that I have been assisting them with all kinds of things including water and schools. If you go to the Ahanta-Abasa community, we have built a school there with ICT facilities.“
The Mayor of Sekondi-Takoradi, Abdul Mumin-Issah while commending the farmers for their contribution in ensuring food security appealed to fishermen to avoid bad fishing practices which has the potential to deplete fishing stock.
“It is on record that our marine stock is drastically dwindling and if proper measures are not put in place the country would end up importing all our fish requirements from other countries. Therefore, let me use this platform to appeal and advise our gallant fishermen against unsustainable fishing practices such as the use of lights, chemicals among others. I, therefore, encourage all stakeholders to work together to get things done right.“
The Acting Sekondi-Takoradi Metro Director of Agric, Ebo Nketsia Junior, also speaking at the 36th edition of the Farmers Day celebration at Diabene told Citi News the assembly is seriously encouraging urban farming.
“The future of farming holds a lot of prospects. We have what we call urban agriculture which involves a lot of livestock and poultry. Currently, we have more than 50 poultry farmers within the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, and we are looking at getting demarcated place from the Chiefs specifically for urban agric, so the future is bright.”