Contrary to the widespread perception that agriculture is not profitable, and as such, many people have, over the years, expressed low interest in the field, Ghanaians have been urged to disregard that thought.
Agribusiness specialist Abraham Sarfo, who spoke at the 57th Congregation at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) during the session for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, stressed the need to take advantage of opportunities in the field.
Having been an agribusiness practitioner for over two decades, he urged the new graduates to venture into agriculture as it is profitable.
Citing his real-life experience as an example, he noted that while growing up, he did not like agriculture, but it turned out to be the career path he later chose, which has been very rewarding.
“Agriculture is profitable. There’s money in agriculture. So be excited. Sometimes I look back, and I wonder how I found myself in agriculture and how my life would turn out if I were not accepted to read this course. Naively bordering on youthful stupidity, I had refused to include agriculture in my O level courses. During our time, we had to do O level and A level.”
“My school, Bekwai SDA, had made agriculture compulsory for all students entering form four, but some of us through stupidity and arrogance thought we didn’t need agriculture, and so we decided we were not going to take agriculture. We told the school authorities, and they said we are not going to let you take seven courses for the O level because we cannot guarantee your success. We can only allow you to take eight. The options were limited for us so those so-called revered students decided that we would go and do French. After working in Francophone countries such as Senegal, I still cannot speak French.”
He further emphasized the need for graduates to take advantage of several uncharted territories that have the potential of creating jobs. He said this is largely because persons on the African continent import those goods, and as such, coming up with import substitution strategies would be a game-changer.
The areas he advised the graduates to take advantage of include the provision of baby food, transportation and storage of farm produce, climate adaptation investment opportunities, among others.
“Let me highlight a few potentials Africa has to offer in terms of agriculture. There are areas that are uncharted in agriculture in terms of the value chain. For example, the potential of local baby food is estimated by the International Trade Centre to exceed 1.1 billion Euros by 2026. Africa is currently importing 570 million of food prepared for infants per year. Imagine taking this opportunity and even getting one percent of the slice. If a student of KNUST graduation class that I am speaking to comes out with a formula that combines local ingredients and can serve this food to Ghana and the rest of Africa. So, there’s a huge potential in Africa. Those of us that have undertaken courses in natural resources management, climate change adaptation opportunities are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The provost of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at KNUST, Prof. Ben Branoh Banful, on his part, noted that there has been a significant rise in student interest in the area, as the college has had a recent percentage increase of 13.
1,104 students from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources graduated from KNUST on 9th November 2023.