The Deputy Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Hon. William Agyapong Quaittoo, has said most farmer based organizations (FBOs) are losing focus of their obligation to assist local farmers to get the needed know-how and support to transform the agric sector.
According to him they have moved away from their core mandate of ensuring that farmers in the country get the best agriculture practices from ‘all walks of life.’
Speaking at a stakeholder dialogue meeting organized by SEND-Ghana, in Accra, he alleged that leaders of the various farmer-based organizations are not protecting the interest of small holder farmers but, rather in bed with ruling governments.
“It is hard time for various leaders to champion agriculture transformation change rather than pursuing their selfish gains at the expense of their Association,” he stressed.
It is unfortunate, that FBO’s are not being robust to turn around the fortunes of the agriculture sector, despite their operation in the country. ‘They have not been vibrant, and that has led to their poor performance lately.’
The Deputy Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, thus called for a holistic approach in funding agriculture related projects in Ghana.
He noted that the governments’ contribution towards the sector has been paltry and called increased investment in the sector.
Mr. Quattoo bemoaned the current budgetary allocation to the sector. He quizzed that if agriculture is indeed the backbone of the economy why would the government allocate insufficient funds to the sector.
He thus therefore called on the government to implement policies that would boost agriculture production in Ghana particularly small holder farmers.
Attached is the Audio
