The Agricultural Development Bank, ADB has presented the cash prize of one million Cedis to the 2022 National Best Farmer, Nana Yaw Sarpong Siriboe.
This comes after the Best Farmer’s proposal of how the funds will be utilized was accepted by the Bank.
Speaking at a presentation ceremony in Accra, Managing Director of ADB, Alhaji Alhassan Yakubu-Tali said the proposal was scrutinized and Nana Sarpong Siriboe’s intention to invest the money into the construction of a training center to train the youth in agriculture, especially in technology transfer, sustainable farming ideas and best practices in farming is one which is worthy of commendation.
He said the enormous benefit the Institute would bring in terms of creating local sustainable employment would go a long way to reduce the canker of rural urban migration.
“I believe this proposal is worth supporting. As we have done in the past, the Bank will provide Nana with a dedicated Relationship Manager to assist in ensuring the proper utilisation of the funds,” he noted.
Alhaji Yakubu-Tali stated that ADB’s support for the National Best Farmer awards since 2001, forms part of the Bank’s unwavering commitment to encourage Ghanaian farmers and fishers to grow more, feed more and create more wealth for themselves and the nation.
While reiterating the Bank’s commitment to support agriculture in the country, Alhaji Yakubu-Tali stated that, “the Bank remains a major partner for all agricultural related programmes and projects of government.
ADB has been the lead financier for Planting for Food and Jobs, Rearing for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development, the agricultural component of the One District One Factory Initiative, provision of Outboard Motors to Fisher folks among others.”
Minister of Food and Agriculture, (MoFA) Bryn Acheampong while commending ADB for consistently motivating and supporting the development of agriculture through partnership initiatives with the Ministry, said his office is shifting focus to an effective pathway towards harnessing the potential of agriculture.
“Sooner than later, we will be engaging the ADB to explore possible areas of cooperation to catalyze the transformation process of the agricultural sector,” he added.
According to him, recent adversities of COVID-19, Climate Change and the Russian-Ukraine war and their combined impact on the global economy, especially hikes in food inflation, emphasize the need to prioritise matters of food security and resilience.
The 2022 National Best Farmer, Nana Sarpong Siriboe said his primary aim for contesting for the award was to have the needed platform to motivate and mentor the youth, particularly those with tertiary education among whom unemployment is very high, to consider agriculture as a profit making venture.
“Since I was adjudged the National Best Farmer, I have utilized every available platform to motivate and mentor more than three thousand youth especially young women in some parts of the country into agriculture,” he said.
He said his proposed 600 capacity Agricultural Skills Development and Environmental sustainability center, which is 50 percent complete will augment government and other stakeholders efforts at providing the youth and women the opportunity to gain access to knowledge to make wealth through agriculture.
The initiative which will be supported with the one million Cedis cash prize received to ensure completion, will offer need-based training that seeks to expose participants to different career options along the entire agricultural value chain, and the linking of agriculture to industry and services.
By: Naa Dzagbley Ago
