The Chief Executive Officer of RMSP Ghana Limited, a research company, Mr Eric Arthur, has called on the youth to develop interest and venture into commercial agriculture to enhance food security and economic growth.
He said it was time the youth went into technology-driven agriculture to promote the country’s economic transformation agenda.
Mr Arthur made the call at a forum on opportunities for the youth, organised by Yefi Ghana and funded by Oxfam in Ghana, in Tamale.
He said even though the government had expanded the support from 1.2 million to 1.5 million farmers under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme, it was important to leverage digitisation in the agriculture sector.
This, he said, would help to boost food production and expand access to markets at local and international levels to develop the country’s economy.
Mr Arthur appealed to stakeholders in the agriculture sector to increase their support to the National Food Buffer Stock Company and the Ghana Commodity Exchange to augment food stocks to avoid shortages in the country.
Mr Alhassan Abdul-Ganiyu, Technical Advisor for Youth, Advocacy and Gender at Yefi Ghana, appealed to policymakers to involve the youth and vulnerable groups in formulating policies that would benefit them to improve their wellbeing.
He noted that the government and other stakeholders needed to target the vulnerable and the youth groups to address issues confronting them.
