The government has through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, presented a cheque for one million Ghana cedis to the 2022 National Best Farmer, Oheneba Nana Yaw Sarpong Siriboe, a businessman, farmer and
Akyempemhene of Juaben Asante.
This was made possible by the Headline Sponsor of the event, the Agricultural Development Bank, ADB, which released the cash prize. The dummy cheque was presented to the winner by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Brian Acheampong.
He is expected to plough back into his farm, targeting job creation, knowledge impartation, increased application of technology, and value addition to produce.
Last year’s National Farmers Day event was held at Koforidua in the Eastern region. It was a scene to behold as farmers and agribusiness showcased a wide variety of products that underscored the potential of the agricultural sector to provide the safety valve in crisis and to transform Ghana’s economy.
The Farmers Day was instituted by the Government of President Rawlings to celebrate Ghana’s heroes and heroines of the green economy. All other governments marked the annual event usually slated for December 5 or the first Friday in December, with pomp. This has often gone with improvement in prizes for the award winners.
The reigning Best Farmer Oheneba Nana Yaw Sarpong Siriboe is the youngest farmer to have won the prestigious title. The message this sends out there is that, the youth can make it big in agriculture if they took an interest in it. The Government of President Akufo Addo has through its Planting for Food and Jobs Programme, greatly assisted farmers, and indeed the agricultural chain to perform optimally.
This revived the interest of international partners in the sector to do more. At no time had agriculture increased output than this period, but unfortunately, the stride had been hit by inflation within the general economic challenges, sending food prices to the roof.
