Sunyani, Feb. 3, GNA - Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) on Tuesday exhorted directors of the Ministry to be pro-active and help achieve the government's goal of modernizing agriculture.

The Ministry must take the lead to bring about the needed change in attitudes towards agriculture so that our farmers, who provide the bulk of the nation's food requirements, will also regard the sector as business, not merely a vocation, he said.

Major Quashigah was opening a three-day orientation programme for regional and district directors of the Ministry in Sunyani. The annual programme is meant to sharpen the administrative and managerial capabilities of the participants in steering agriculture development in the country.

The Minister noted that modern scientific situations had changed and there was the need for stakeholders in the industry to look at developing markets for what is produced. Those days when we had to produce before looking for markets are gone, he said, stressing that the nation must now exploit her comparative and competitive advantages to increase production. Major Quashigah said this could be done through advertisements, education and possibly, by policy legislation.

Major Quashigah said the current situation demanded a new type of leadership to lead the staff, inspire and motivate them to build a team that would collectively work towards the achievement of the national vision.

He urged the directors to avoid negative tendencies, including undermining, backbiting and the promotion of one's ambition "by hook or crook" to the detriment of the overall development of the staff of the Ministry.

Quoting extensively from Proverbs in the Holy Bible, the Minister reiterated the need to make the nation self-sufficient in food production and to develop a taste for what is produced locally. "If we are able to develop a taste for what we produce, all these efforts that the government is making about poverty reduction could be brought to a minimal point since we shall no longer rely on expensive imported foods," he stressed.

Major Quashigah said the MOFA was collaborating with the Ministry of Education to develop a school-feeding programme in which educational authorities would be obliged to rely on local but rich foods in feeding students.

The Women in Agriculture directorate of the MOFA has been tasked to draw up the programme for presentation to Cabinet and for legislation, he added.

The Minister recalled that the country's first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah set up food processing factories to capture the West African market "but leadership and management deficiencies led to greed, selfishness and avarice on the part of some people assigned to take care of these facilities".

Nana Kwadwo Seinti, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister stressed that it was the determination of the government to reverse the high rate of food imports "and no stone would be left unturned for the realization of this ambition".

He said Ghana had the capability for agricultural production and the diversification of its agricultural base. It also has the potential and an increasing will to add value to its production for both domestic consumption and for export, he added.

He told the directors that the realization of the objectives of the government's agricultural policies depended on how well they managed the various resources - including the human, material, financial - at their disposal.

The Regional Minister urged them to collaborate closely with the District Assemblies and other social partners, noting with regret that apart from the celebration of the national farmers' day, "there are few, and in some cases, no collaboration between the district agriculture development units and the District Assemblies.

You can forge and strengthen collaboration with the Assemblies through the regular submission of strategic and annual plans and budgets to them indicating areas where you think the Assemblies could assist with suggestions, funding and logistics, he suggested.