Accra, Aug.12, GNA - Close to 500 million dollars of the Ghana's hard-earned foreign exchange is spent on food imports. Virtually all the improved agricultural inputs, such as hybrid seeds, fertilisers, agro-chemicals, agro machinery and equipment, and packaging materials are also imported.

Speaking at the launching in Accra of this year's National Farmers' Day, Mr Alan Kyerematen Minister of Trade, Industry and Presidents Special Initiative, who gave the figure, said the way agricultural had been organised in Ghana only served to develop the market of agro-business in other countries.

"One clear consequence of this pattern of development is the high incidence of youth unemployment, streetism, and crimes that have bedevilled our economy since independence.

"Another is the perennial inability of the State to provide adequate social and economic infrastructure and finance for private sector growth, without depending on external assistance," Mr Kyerematen said. He emphasized the pursuit of policies that closely effectively link agriculture and industry, adding that Ghana had the basic resources to ensure that her industries depended on agricultural raw materials in which she had comparative advantage.

Mr Kyerematen said appropriate processing and packaging plants were part of the vital products required for the nation's industries to create the necessary links with the agricultural sector. He said the President had mooted an idea of a tripod of Ministries comprising the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Trade and Industries and Finance, to work in concert to transform the economy from import based to a vibrant industrialized one.

Mr Kyerematen said the supply of credit to the agricultural sector was limited because Ghanaian agriculture was rain-fed and weather dependent; there was high cost of administering agricultural credit and the low recovery of loan recovery.

He said the pursuance of an integrated strategy for enhancing access to the financial support would be crucial to agro-business development, adding that the element for such a strategy should include attractive tax relief for financial institutions serving the agricultural sector. The strategy should also include deposit mobilisation assistance to financial institutions to develop innovative ways of mobilising deposits from small operators, which included fostering associations between the formal sector institutions and informal savings and loans associations and input suppliers.

Food and Agriculture Minister, Major Courage Quashigah (rtd) said the Ministry had launched the Livestock Development Project to increase the production of various types of meat to satisfy the protein needs of the Ghanaian citizenry.

The Ministry had also established a Dairy Training Centre at Amrahia, near Dodowa, and training people in cow milking, and it had embarked on a vigorous campaign to sensitise caterers to use local rice, gari in various forms, cassava and sweet potato flour for pastries and dairy products for desert.

Finance Minster Yaw Osafo-Maafo, who chaired the ceremony, said the country could develop if it could process massively its products, adding that it was necessary to build and introduce appropriate technology at both the production and the manufacturing stage, and diversify the use of agricultural products.

He appealed to the financial sector to look at the agro-business- the business of all activities relating to agriculture and also those that impacted on it- with some favour.

The National Farmers' Day, the 19th since its inception, comes off at Cape Coast December 5, 2003, on the theme: "Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Food Security through Improved Agri-Business." The Day is set aside to honour gallant farmers and fisherman for their hard-work in producing food to feed the nation, and also producing agricultural raw materials for feeding agro-based industries, and export.

Mr Clement Eledi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture In-Charge of Crops, who is also the Chairman of the Planning Committee, said some of the selection criteria to win the Best Farmer Award were the extent of diversification, knowledge and practice of animal husbandry, record keeping and general impression of the selection committee.

Members of the Committee are drawn from the Universities, the research institution and officials of the Agriculture Ministry.

On November 30, the prospective laureates would converge in Accra and visit some places of interest in the Accra-Tema metropolis and pay a courtesy call on the President before moving to Cape Coast for their prizes.

The Ministry appealed for support in the form of donations from individuals and organisations for the Day.