Stereotyping farming as a drudgery and unprofitable venture often discourages the youth from venturing agriculture.
The youth detest farming and regard venturing the sector as a taboo, yet it is the largest employing sector of the Ghanaian population.
In a bid to change the negative perspective, Rev. Evans Kyere-Mensah used the Ghana Youth Agriculture Summit as an avenue to expose students from second-cycle and tertiary schools to potentials within the agriculture space.
Farming is a small but important part of the agriculture value chain, which has the potential of employing the teaming unemployed youth who go in search of non-existing white-collar jobs.
The Ghana Youth Agriculture Summit seeks to address the persistent unemployment situation among graduates in the country.
The program which was held at the KNUST had the goal of dousing the wrong perception about agriculture among the youth.
Rev. Kyere-Mensah said he is poised to change the negative perception and inculcate in the youth the importance of agriculture.
He described the current rate of unemployment as a national security threat, which should be a concern to all while practical steps are taken to deal with it.
He expects the government to have a deliberate policy that would cushion the base of youth who are actively engaged in the field of agriculture.
The Ghana Youth Agriculture Summit has created a database to nurture young farmers.
“This is not the usual talk shop, we have been witnessing over the years. I am in to change the narrative by providing the necessary assistance to each participant, who has the desire to do farming,” said Rev. Kyere-Mensah.
He has the overall objective of building more young commercial farmers as an outcome of the Summit.
He noted the looming global food crisis must be a major concern for all, and served as a clarion call for Ghanaian youth to farm to feed the rest of the world.
