Donald Agumenu, a parliamentary candidate hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ketu North constituency, has called for more investment into the agriculture sector to improve the livelihoods of the majority of Ghanaians.

Agumenu was speaking at a durbar to mark activities that climaxed a week long celebration of the Rice Festival (Morlu Za) of the Chiefs and people of Dekpor on Saturday.

"In order to improve the livelihood of our people, there's the need to invest more into the agriculture - you would agree with me that, if we want to alleviate poverty and put food on the table of the average Ghanaian and have a buffer-stock for export, we need to invest more into agriculture and for that matter rice cultivation," he said.

Agumenu said the amount of rice imported into the country on a daily basis, was taking a toll on the public purse, and called for efforts to equip local rice farmers, ensure quality control and encourage more people to go into rice cultivation and farming as a whole.

He observed that rice cultivation within the Weta-Afife enclave was just one face of the value chain.

"What we need to look at is how to add value to the rice production. We need to look at packaging, marketing, warehousing and the provision of equipment to increase our production for local consumption and for export," he said.

The parliamentary aspirant said, he would liaise with the relevant institutions to open a bigger forum for deliberations on how to harness and expand the production of the commodity in the enclave which he observed was one of the largest in the country, to attract the needed investment for producers to increase their yield and maximize their gains.

The aspirant commended the organizers of the festival for the resolve to champion their own course adding that he would continue to support efforts aimed at boosting the production of rice in the enclave when given the nod as the Member of Parliament for the area in the 2024 general elections.

The festival which brought together indigenes of the area from home and abroad, was celebrated on the theme: "Uniting for Development."