Tamale, Jan.12, GNA - The Apex Farmers Organisation of Ghana (AFOG) has appealed to farmers to work hard to maintain peace in their communities.

"Our livelihoods and those of our families stand to suffer under conflict situations and therefore the maintenance of peace should be our topmost priority to enable us to produce to feed the nation," AFOG said in a congratulatory message to farmers in Tamale.

The organisation noted that since farming depended on a peaceful and stable environment, farmers should be involved in all mediation efforts to make Ghana a conflict-free country.

The message signed by the General Secretary, Osofo Patrick A. Apullah, called on Ghanaians to preach peace at all times and to unite to fight desertification, which it said posed a threat to increased agricultural production.

It also called for tolerance and cooperation among the political parties for the country's development.

The organisation noted that violence and war did not only discourage investment but also prevented capital inflows into the economy. AFOG urged the government to involve farmers in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies acceptable to them. It called for an end to bureaucratic tendencies, which the Association noted impeded the development of the private sector and urged the government to ensure that policies for the sector were "specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound". The statement congratulated the government and Ghanaians on the Golden Jubilee celebration of Ghana's independence but expressed regret that at 50 the country still depended on the importation of rice and maize to feed the people. The Association called for the modernisation of agriculture to enhance food production.