A process to effect the manufacture of agricultural machinery and

equipment locally is to begin this year. Consequently, the

government is fashioning an industrial policy that would spell out

the guidelines for the manufacture of the machinery.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr John Gyetuah, said

the industrial policy, which would be ready by June, this year,

would also ensure that agricultural produce fed directly into local

industry.

He was speaking in Accra at the launch of a report on

“Agriculture budget tracking: Investing in smallholder agriculture

for optimal results; The ultimate policy choice for Ghana"

conducted by SEND-Ghana, a civil society organisation.

Mr Gyetuah said the government was also reviewing several

policies to achieve value addition in the agricultural sector.

He; therefore, asked agricultural producers and employers in

agricultural enterprises to support the government's effort at

developing the agricultural sector.

According to the report, only 16 per cent of smallholder farmers

had access to financial credit in 2008, and indicated that there

were disparities in access to credit at the regional and district

levels.

"On the source of financial services, smallholder farmers largely

rely on informal arrangements to obtain credit from family

members, friends and money lenders. Farmers' inability to

obtain credit is attributable to high interest and cumbersome

application procedures," it said.

The study said since 2003, the Government of Ghana had

systematically increased budgetary allocation to the agricultural

sector and that in 2008 the budgetary allocation rose above the

10 per cent required by the Maputo Declaration.

It, however, asked AU and NEPAD to revise the minimum threshold

of 10 per cent allocation to ensure that additional quantum of funds

is provided as direct investment funds to support agricultural

development.

A lecturer at the Department of Agriculture of the University of

Ghana, Legon, Prof. Ramatu Alhassan, who launched the report

urged spending agencies to improve on their data recording and

management systems to allow use of data for monitoring the

implementation and impact of policies and strategies.

The Country Director of SEND-Ghana, Mr Samuel Zan Akolgo,

said the report would give policy makers a sober reflection on how

agricultural policy had fared so far in Ghana.

He said the aim of SEND-Ghana was to influence the country's

agricultural policy "so that it truly guarantees food sovereignty and

security to the people of Ghana".

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Poverty

Reduction, Mr Clement Kofi Kumado, said Parliament would

continue to support efforts at improving the lot of stakeholder

farmers.

Source: Daily Graphic