The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) on Friday called on Ghanaians to revisit the “Operation Feed Yourself” programme, as the nation marks the 39th Farmer Day celebration.

Operation Feed Yourself was an agricultural programme administered in the country under military general and head-of-state Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.

This policy was initiated in February 1972 and remained until the end of Acheampong’s regime in 1978 and it inspired and motivated the citizenry to grow what they eat.

Mr Patrick Dela Newman, the Sunyani Municipal Director of MoFA, who made the call, said the Ministry was poised to assist interested households to engage in backyard gardening to produce crops and vegetables themselves.

This would not only improve nutrition but also increase household food productivity, he stated, when addressing a durbar of farmers to mark the Sunyani Municipal celebration of the 39th Farmers Day, held at Antwikrom in the municipality.

In all, 12 deserving farmers were honoured and received prizes ranging from refrigerators, wax print, tricycles, bicycles, polytank, wellington boots, spraying machines, key bar soap, roofing sheets and some agrochemicals.

Mr Newman expressed worry about the misapplications and uncontrolled use of agrochemicals on food crops, which remained hazardous to human health, saying “If we can plant what we eat we can avoid all these harms as well”.

In that regard, he explained the Municipal Directorate of Agriculture would soon identify, collaborate with, and assist some Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the municipality which had boarding facilities to venture into farming and to produce food crops to feed the students.

Mr John Ansu Kumi, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, commended the gallant farmers for their hard work and assured the Assembly’s readiness to support them to expand their farm work in helping to increase national food security.

As one of the food baskets of the nation, he urged farmers in the municipality to capitalize on Phase two of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, register and access the many opportunities under the programme and engage in commercial farming activities.

Mr Kumi advised the farmers to seek assistance from the Agric Extension Officers and to ensure proper use of agrochemicals on their farms.

Farming, Mr Kumi said, remained a lucrative enterprise, saying it was untrue it was a reserve for the poor and the academically dull people.

The Divisional Officer Grade Three (DOIII) Agyemang Duah, the Sunyani Municipal Fire Commander, said the ban on bush burning and hunting remained in force.

Inaugurating 60-member fire volunteers as part of the celebration, he said it was an offense for farmers to handle naked fires on the farm.

He advised farmers who intended to burn their farms to seek assistance from the fire volunteers who would be deployed to the local communities to control bushfires.

DOIII Duah said the municipality recorded 46 fire outbreaks in 2022 causing extensive destruction to properties valued at more than GH¢524,000.