By Jones Anlimah
The Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Manish Gupta, has called for the adoption of the Indian cooperative model of agriculture to enhance the sector in Ghana.
Speaking at a media engagement at Ho in the Volta region as part of his official visit to the region, Mr. Gupta highlighted the Volta region’s rich agricultural potential, noting that its favourable land topography and opportunities for value addition to farm produce could bolster agriculture in the country.
India-Ghana bilateral relationship is characterised by strong economic ties, developmental cooperation, and a shared commitment to mutual growth and development.
The official visit by the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Manish Gupta, to the Volta region was to find ways to further promote mutual economic benefits through increased trade and investment opportunities in the country and in the Volta region in particular.
At a media engagement in Ho, Mr Gupta expressed optimism about the future prospects of India-Ghana relations, citing historical ties dating back to the founding fathers of both nations.
He outlined areas of interest where the two countries could further foster cooperation. These include bilateral relations, trade and investment, educational and cultural exchanges, development projects, political and diplomatic issues, sustainable development, and tourism.
Mr. Gupta said the cooperative model of farming has significantly boosted agricultural productivity in India and could provide similar benefits to Ghana. He noted that the Volta region, known for its fertile lands, stands to gain significantly from such an initiative and urged stakeholders to consider this model to drive growth and sustainability in Ghana’s agricultural sector.
“Because what it really helps is providing the great benefits going to the farmers. Rather than, you know, the benefits going to the middleman or across the value chain, at least the bulk of the benefits should go to the tiller. And in India, we have used this cooperative model for a lot of things, starting from providing the basic seeds, transferring of technology, providing fertilizers, providing them access to start smart agriculture practices,” he said.
“So all of these things we are doing under a cooperative rubric. And it’s working well for us. And the situation on the agricultural side here is in many ways similar to India, because, like here, we also have similar challenges. You know, our size of agricultural holdings, India is also quite small. So obviously, you know, if you want to do economies of scale, that would really require pooling of the resources,” he added.
The High Commissioner also assured of investment in the region’s rice farming potential to help bolster the local economy and improve the livelihoods of rice farmers in the region.
“And in fact, I’m encouraging all the delegations which are visiting Accra to also visit the region because the opportunities to us are here in the region. And I would really like friends from the media and from the business and industry to partner with us, be in regular touch with us so as to ensure that we have smooth communication to that effect,” he noted.
