Former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has praised president Akufo-Addo for laying a solid foundation in the agricultural sector which can be developed further for the socio-economic development of the country.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto said agriculture is the gateway to Ghana’s economic development and President Akufo-Addo laid the basic foundations which when properly developed, will eliminate many of the country’s imports thereby, strengthening the local economy.
Delivering a public lecture on the topic “The future of the economy of Ghana” at the Kofi Ohene Konadu Auditorium, UPSA, the two-term Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region said his tenure at the Ministry led to astronomical increases in plant yields.
“As the immediate past Minister of Food and Agriculture, I am confident that the Akufo-Addo government laid a solid foundation upon which a thriving, sustainable agriculture can be built in the coming years.
“The foundations that have been laid under my watch in my six years as the Minister for the sector, measures we took to ensure food security, we procured and distributed a total of 1.4 million metric tons of fertilizer and 93,192 metric tons of improved seed that was distributed to over 17 million farmers from 2017 to 2021.
“As a result of these measures, Maize yields increased from 1.8mt/ha to 3.0mt/ha; Rice yield increased from 2.7mt/ha to 4.0mt/ha and Soya yield increased from 1Mt/ha to 2.5Mt/ha, in the period from 2017 to 2021. With Planting For Food and Jobs (PFJ) intervention, production of maize has risen from 1.7 million MT in 2016 to 3.6 million MT in 2021, Rice from 688,000MT to 1.2 million MT, and soya from 143,000MT to 230,000MT over the same period.”
He added that as a result of these measures, maize and soya bean yields increased for the period under review.”
Dr. Afriyie resigned from his position as the Food and Agriculture Minister on Tuesday, January 10 after he presented his resignation letter to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House to pursue his ambition to lead the New Patriotic Party in the 2024 general elections as its flagbearer.