Subsistence farming even now dominates the agriculture sector

Enterprise Information of Tuesday, 9 February 2021

Source: GNA

2021-02-09

Farmers who cultivate crops and forest tree production on two acres and down below nevertheless dominate the agriculture sector, the Ghana Census of Agriculture (GCA) 2017/2018, has unveiled.

The study reported in the 12 months 1970 the percentage of these proportion of farmers stood at 35 per cent but having said that amplified to 56 for every cent in the 2017/2018 census.

Professor Samuel K. Annim, Government Statistician, who disclosed this throughout the opening of a dissemination workshop of GCA, said much more than fifty percent of folks actives in the sector were previous.

The research, in accordance to him confirmed that agricultural things to do in the region even now remained rural and rudimentary with little innovation and modernisation.

“Most agricultural holders use common instruments and devices for production while the use of present day resources and products this kind of as tractors, shellers, power tillers, hatchery/incubator, meat processing machines and milking products are negligible,” he stated.

“While fertilizer is not used by most holders, the use of pesticides is very widespread among holders. Crop cultivation is predominantly dependent on rain and mortality in livestock is high,” he mentioned.

He pointed out that the study confirmed the instructional degree of people today engaged in the agriculture sector was both up to primary instruction or no education with only 13 for each cent of holders attaining secondary or increased ranges of instruction.

“With these minimal instruction among the farmers, it will not gas the expansion of the sector mainly because there is the need to adopt and utilize contemporary technologies. We are however engaged in rain-fed but require to move to go beyond that,” he stated.

The study, he said revealed that a lot of people today owned farmlands in the calendar year 1970 than in 2018.

Prof Annim mentioned there was a require for the money sector to develop distinctive extensive-time period bank loan techniques to meet up with the requires of distinct groups of farmers and agriculture things to do.

“Currently most financial establishment does not get into thought the gestation period of unique actions. Going forward our money establishments need to have to style and design packages for cassava, cocoa, rice, maize…” he said.

These kinds of a credit deal, he explained would catch the attention of the youth to engage in agriculture and develop the sector to replicate the phrase of “making the sector the backbone of the economy”.

Prof. Annim mentioned that the mangers of the country’s education wanted to acquire programmes in agriculture that would be practically based and connected to work soon after completion.

He mentioned examine served as a baseline to obtain policies which includes Planting for Food and Positions, Constructing of Dress in Housing, how it integrates with the just one-district-1-manufacturing unit and in the up coming Countrywide Census of Agriculture in the yr 2024.

Mr. Kingsley Agyei Boahene, the Central Regional Coordinating Director, reported the findings of the GCA ended up crucial for policymakers to far better recognize, get ready, implement and appraise progress tasks aimed at enhancing agriculture in Ghana.

He said the sector now experienced up-to-date and reliable agriculture studies for programming and monitoring foodstuff safety and livelihood programmes, among the other folks.

Mr Boahen stated the provision of data on the composition of agriculture in the nation, was important to the rebasing of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Item (GDP).