Accra, Aug. 17, GNA-The 2022 National Best Farmer, Nana Yaw Sarpong Siriboe, has launched an initiative to encourage the youth to take up agriculture as a serious business.
Dubbed « Rethink », the initiative will hold mentorship sessions for young people on the use of technology and best agronomic practices.
It will also help to engage policymakers and industry players to come out with policies to empower the youth and also facilitate their access to finance.
Nana Siriboe, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Siriboe Farms Limited, said the initiative was to help develop a new crop of youth entrepreneurs in the agriculture value chain and to revitalise the sector.
He said there would be a series of national development dialogues to encourage stakeholders to help revitalise the agricultural sector.
« For me, the accolade of the National Best Farmer is a call to action, a call to rethink the essence of agriculture in the country; and that is why we seek to equip the youth with the tools, knowledge and education they need to sustain the legacy and move it to the next level, » the CEO added.
Nana Siriboe further said that through the Siriboe institute, a centre for youth employment, more than 5,000 young people had been empowered to participate in various agricultural practices.
Commenting on the initiative, the Director of Agricultural Extension Services at the Ministry of Food Agriculture, Paul Siameh, said it was aligned with the renewed focus of the ministry to fashion out new approaches to agriculture.
« The initiative is a timely call for all actors and facilitators in the various agricultural commodity chains to quickly pause, rethink and fashion out new approaches and strategies In the light of changing trends at global and local levels, » he said.
He said the Ministry had also activated a rethinking of the Government Flagship Programme for Agricultural Development, the « Planting for Food and Jobs » and would be launched in the coming days.
