The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Consumer Sciences at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Prof. Terry Ansah, has called on the government to consider including students of Colleges of Agricultural Education as beneficiaries of the trainee allowance scheme.

According to him, including these students in the trainee allowance scheme will encourage more qualified individuals to enroll in Colleges of Agriculture.

Prof. Ansah expressed concern that while the government pays teacher and nursing trainees allowances, it does not recognize the importance of including agricultural trainees—an omission he sees as a disregard for quality manpower in Ghana’s food value chain.

“Unfortunately, those who are responsible for the production of food for you and me, we don’t think they deserve motivation in the form of allowances. I find that very dangerous for the country. Neglecting agricultural students while paying nursing and teacher trainees allowances reveals a disregard for quality manpower in our food value chain,” he stated.

Prof. Terry Ansah made these remarks at the 19th Inaugural Lecture of UDS in Tamale over the weekend.

Speaking on the theme “Feeding the Future: Transforming Sheep and Goat Farming in the Arid and Semi-Arid Zones through Innovative Feed Solutions,” Prof. Ansah emphasized the need to promote livestock rearing in the country. He added that this is essential to addressing Ghana’s food security challenges.

He noted that nutritional feed gaps for livestock—worsened by seasonal fluctuations in feed availability and quality—remain a central issue that must be addressed holistically.

“During the dry season, the sharp decrease in biomass yields from pastures reduces the nutrients available to livestock. This feed scarcity negatively affects the growth and productivity of sheep and goats, ultimately threatening the sector's contribution to food security,” Prof. Ansah explained.

Further highlighting the challenges, he noted that reliance on natural pasture, coupled with competing land-use demands, exacerbates the situation—especially as grazing lands are shared with crop farmers, often leading to conflicts over land use.

To address these issues, Prof. Ansah emphasized the importance of integrating indigenous forage varieties and browse plants into small ruminant feeding systems.