Mr. Samuel Okoe Amankwah, Municipal Chief Executive of the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly has encouraged youths and students to engage in agriculture and agric-business to reduce the importation of goods the country has has comparative advantage in.
He said the interest of the youth in agriculture was fading and there should be a programme to revive their interests in agriculture, especially farming.
Mr. Okoe Amankwah told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Kpone during the Municipal commemoration of the 38th National Farmers Day, which is on the theme: “Accelerating Agricultural Development through Value Addition”.
He added that the Assembly, the government, and some organizations in the municipality would help train and reorient the youth’s mind-sets in agriculture and educate them that there were benefits in engaging in the agriculture business.
Manye Foundation School was awarded the Best Green Ghana School in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality.
Mr. Okoe Amankwah encouraged other schools to engage in school farming to serve as a training ground for their students to participate in farming after school.
Mr. John Kwofie a staff at the Manye Foundation School expressed gratitude to the municipal assembly for acknowledging the hard work of the students, teachers, and staff.
Mr Kwofie told the GNA in an interview that the school would continue to inculcate the practical side of agriculture and not only teach the theory to holistically equip their students for a possible career in farming.
He said schools would continue to collaborate with other stakeholders in the municipality to encourage people to engage also in backyard farming.
“I advised teachers and students in other schools to try and practise school farming or agriculture so that even after school when the students have no white-collar-jobs with the skills acquired in farming, they will be able to find something for themselves,” he said.
Master Eben Addo, a student of Manye Foundation School said the award would serve as a stimulus for them to engage in full-time farming, stressing “it is a good initiative and it would help my friends and me to engage in agricultural work”.
Mr. Daniel Welbel Kabutey Nartey, Head Teacher, Manye Foundation School, told the GNA that the school was confronted with challenges in its commitment to educating the students as some of them were not interested in agriculture initially.
He said through counseling and sensitization, “we managed to get them involved, sometimes the students try to dodge but we manage to educate them because agriculture and agricultural business is so far the best occupation”.
Mr. Nartey also encouraged youths and young students that though they may face challenges in agriculture practices, they should continue to work hard to benefit in future.