The government is to set up farms throughout the country on the model of the Ejura Farms, to boost food production. As a first step, the Ejura will soon be revamped to make it operate at full capacity.
President Mills, who said this after touring the farm on Friday, as part of his three-day visit to the Ashanti Region, said the revamping of the farm and its replication in other regions, would enable Ghana to become a major net exporter of food, as well as create jobs for the youth.
The 14,000-acre Ejura Farms, located in the Ejura-Sekyedumase District of the Ashanti Region, has suffered years about abandonment and is currently operating at half capacity, with about 7,000 acres under cultivation.
As part of the revamping plan which is in line with efforts to attract the youth into agriculture, the President said an additional 5,000 youths would be cultivated next year. Currently, the farm is engaged in the cultivation of maize, soyabean, tomato and other crops.
He said the country�s vast arable land should encourage investors to direct their resources into the agriculture and the youth to take to farming to reduce the unemployment rate.
He explained that farming should not be viewed as an alternative employment avenue by the youth but as a viable business venture, adding that the government was committed to supporting the agriculture sector to make it more attractive to investors, since the sector was critical to the country�s development.
President Mills commended the Member of Parliament for Ejura, Mohammed Pandabu, who has cultivated 100 acres of soyabean, for his initiative, saying it should serve as a source of encouragement to other political leaders.
Yaw Effah Baafi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of Crops, who briefed the President about the activities of Ejura Farms explained that currently under the Youth-in-Agriculture programme, over 1000 acres of maize has been cultivated.
During his tour of Obuasi, President Mills announced the government�s plans to provide a facelift of the infrastructure at the mining town and surrounding areas to comprehensive develop the area.
President Mills told a durbar of chiefs on Saturday to round-off his three-day visit to the Ashanti region that there was the need to create the needed development that would be commensurate with the resources the mining town has provided over the years to support the national economy.
Obuasi has been one of the oldest and largest gold mining areas in the country, yet it has remained undeveloped with poor conditions. As part of the facelift plan, President Mills said the road network would be upgraded.
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