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AGRA Ghana has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to working closely with the government in driving an inclusive transformation of agriculture in Ghana and the continent.
This will significantly aid farmers in increasing productivity, providing for local consumption, and exporting excess produce.
AGRA Country Manager Juliette Lampoh-Agroh who made this known in an interview during a media soiree held in Accra, added that AGRA is looking to sustainably transform Africa’s food systems and in Ghana, it is focusing on supporting a competitive agro-processing industry.
“We want the agro-processing and value addition sector to drive productivity increase and trade. That is what we are focusing on in Ghana.
Under the new strategy, AGRA is also looking at engagements to get government and the private sector to invest more in the agricultural sector,” Juliette Lampoh-Agroh stated. Stressing that AGRA will also focus on supporting more women and youth who are in agriculture.
A Policy Officer at AGRA, Dr. Dorothy Effa, also underscored the need for Ghana to have an Agricultural Insurance Fund to provide subsidies and make it easy for farmers to get their farms insured.
This will increase insurance penetration in the agricultural space. Agricultural insurance in Ghana is a relatively new concept in the country.
The main aim of agricultural insurance is to provide financial protection to farmers against crop failure due to natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and pests.
This protection is intended to help farmers maintain their livelihoods and continue to produce crops and livestock, even in the face of adverse weather conditions. However, because it is expensive, it has yet to become popular in the insurance sector.
This is the reason AGRA is advocating for the establishment of an Agricultural Insurance Fund to provide subsidies for farmers to obtain insurance.
“There is the need for the establishment of this fund [Agricultural Insurance Fund] so that Agricultural Insurance can be subsidised and provide insurance for farmers. It’s very critical. Farmers need insurance because without that they find it difficult to get loans from financial institutions because of the high risk in agriculture.
The farm can get burnt, there could be flood or pest infestation and they can lose everything. Therefore, it will be difficult for them to pay back the loans and that’s why some banks are interested in giving loans to farmers.
“But if they [the banks] are sure there is insurance and they know no matter what happens they will get their money back then they will be willing to give loans to farmers. And that is why I personally feel it’s very critical to have Agricultural Insurance if we want to improve our Agriculture in the country,” Dr. Dorothy Effa clarified.
AGRA aims to increase government and private sector investment in agriculture while supporting more women and youth involved in the sector.
Source: Isaac Kofi Dzokpo/newsghana.com.gh
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