Ghana has decided to model its development agenda on those that led to the transformation of the four countries in Asia that have been nicknamed the ‘Asian Tigers.’

The wealthy countries; Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are renowned for their high growth rates between 1960s and 1990s.

It is the best model for Ghana which is bent on pursuing an aggressive agricultural and industrial revolution, President Akufo-Addo said.

He made the announcement when members of the National Farmers and Fishers Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG) called on him at the presidency yesterday.

He emphasized the need for constant meetings between policymakers and technical persons to meet to fashion out ideas on how to pursue the vision.

Plan

“In order for that to succeed, what have to replicate what they did here. There must be constant interface between those of us making policies and those of you actually in the field,” he noted.

For him, “If that continues to be fertile and there is that cross fertilization between the policy makers and the operators, I think we are almost bound to succeed in whatever we want to do.”

He stressed the need for occasional meetings to map out strategies to develop the agricultural sector, saying “it’s obvious that the objectives of your association are the objectives of Ghana, they are cardinal, they are key and have everything to do with how we can transform agriculture and transform the economy of our country.”

“If indeed there is this intercourse between those of us sitting in offices making policy and those of you in the field actually implementing it, it would also mean that there would be space to influence policy,” he noted.

He directed the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, to meet the association to find ways of achieving the objectives.

“I have no doubt that if we continue down that way, we are going to make a very big impact on enhancing agricultural productivity in our country.”

Proposal

The National Farmers and Fishers Award Winners Association has pledged to partner government to help implement the various programmes such as ‘Planting for Food and Jobs,’ ‘One District, One Factory’, free Senior High School and a host of others.

President of the Association, Davies Narh Karboe, proposed the establishment of a special agriculture fund to make start-up funds available to budding agribusiness entrepreneurs, especially young and the unemployed graduates, who may want to take up agriculture and agribusiness as a profession.

Such a fund, according to him, would also facilitate effective action on the invasion of the fall army worms, floods, swine fever, bird flu, bush fires and droughts, which have devastating and long-term effects on country as a whole.

He was of the belief that the fund would go a long way to engender interest in the agriculture sector.