The Dean of the Faculty of Accounting and Finance at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Isaac Boadi, has called for sustained investment in Ghana’s agricultural sector, cautioning that the country cannot continue to honour farmers once a year and abandon them afterwards.
Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews, Prof. Boadi said while Farmers’ Day is an important moment of recognition, it does not address the real challenges confronting farmers across the country.
“We need to salute the contributions of our farmers—their resilience, contribution to food security and to our economy as a country,” he said.
He noted that dedicating a day to honour farmers is necessary.
“A date set aside for them to honour them, to celebrate them—for me, I don’t see any problem with that. It is more of recognition; we will tell them yes, we appreciate what they are doing, their contribution to our food security in the country.”
However, he questioned what happens after the celebrations.
“But beyond the celebration, what do we do? Individually, the government, and as a country as a whole—what do we do? We all go back to sleep.”
Prof. Boadi welcomed this year’s theme, ‘From Glut to Growth,’ expressing hope it will not end as a slogan.
“I was happy when the Deputy Minister said the theme for this year is from glut to growth. I hope that tag will be implemented after the event today.”
He criticised the long-standing practice of awarding farmers during the event without addressing their real challenges.
“It is not enough to let them be on stage, and the best farmer is given a tractor, the other person is given something, then at the end of the day, we go back to sleep.”
He stressed that farmers continue to face severe financing and market hurdles.
“Access to credit for these farmers sometimes is zero. A stable market opportunity for these farmers is sometimes zero.”
Prof. Boadi described Ghana’s economic posture as troubling.
“I tell people if you want to define Ghana, I look at it in two terms, or from two angles. One, from how we celebrate them, a country that imports more than it exports. That is the best characteristic you can define Ghana. We import more than we export. It is a country that consumes more than we produce.”
He said these indicators should push the country to rethink its approach to agriculture.
He also highlighted the imbalance in Ghana’s GDP structure.
“Check the GDP of the country in terms of sectors—which one is pushing the country forward? Both the agricultural sector, the industry, and the service sector. It is the service that is driving the country. This is about 9.9. If we check that of agriculture, it is about 5.2. And you check the industry; it’s about, I think, 2.3.”
Prof. Boadi found this disappointing, considering agriculture’s huge potential.
“This is a sector that employs, that controls a lot of resources, but today it is rather not pulling its weight.”
He added that Ghana still lacks stable market opportunities for farmers.
“They have an unstable market opportunity. When was the last time the minister or those in charge came and told the farmers, “We have identified opportunities beyond our country, our borders, so let’s send our products to those places”?
He also criticised the financial sector for neglecting agriculture.
He linked this to changes in the banking system.
“Before the passage of the universal banking licence, for instance, Agric used to sponsor only Agric Bank. But when the universal banking licences were given, they could now move into different areas and support different activities. So it makes it difficult for a bank to say, “This is my product for this particular sector,” because they all move to different areas where they can make the investment and get their returns out quickly.”
Prof. Boadi further questioned why Ghana has no agriculture-dedicated bank or lending product.
“Which bank in Ghana today will say I’m solely dedicated or this is my product only for farmers? Have we seen that before?”
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