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Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto says the Akufo-Addo led government has improved productivity in the Agric sector, making foreigners move into the country to learn how the government has been able to change things in agriculture within a short time.

According him, there is bumper harvest as food crops have become cheap to the point of exporting some food crops to neighbouring countries for foreign exchanges.

Speaking to the media at the launch of 2019 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) at the Kempinski Hotel, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto said there is no more hunger in Ghana as it used to exist in the olden days.

“...not anymore because Akufo-Addo government has eliminated hunger from the country to the extent that we now export food crops to neighbouring countries like Ivory Coast, Togo and Burkina Faso”, he asserted.

Touching on the relevance of the African Green Revolution Forum which will be hosted in Ghana, the Agric Minister said the forum draws participation from the highest level of governments in Africa and the international community to provide a platform for governments and partners in the development community to formulate agricultural policy tools.

He added that the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) provides the platform to mobilize resources for investment in priorities aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Malabo 2014 Commitments.

He however was hopeful that the forum will make Ghana’s name travel far in terms of the agriculture business, exposing the country for investors to invest in the sector as government alone is incapable of ensuring the growth in the agric business.

“When investors come to see what we have done in the agriculture sector, they will be encouraged to push the country to produce more crops. This program is about the youth because we want the youth to see how agric business is done with ease as compared to the past”, he mentioned.

He reiterated that under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, they recognized the critical role of agriculture and therefore proceeded to objectively diagnose the problems of agriculture for appropriate action.

He stressed that the introduction of the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign targeted at supporting farmers access improved inputs, extension services, and markets; aiming to improve productivity, incomes and create jobs.

He averred that farmers have demonstrated how much they can achieve when given access to right technology, high quality seeds, fertilizers and a market; thus there were significant yield increases for targeted crops after two years of providing input support to farmers under the Planting for Food and Jobs.