Agriculture Will Die Without More Extension Officers – Agric Officer

A District Agric Officer in the Nanumba South District of the Northern Region, Sulemana Bawa Abdul Rahman, has warned that Ghana’s agric sector may collapse by in the near future if sustainable measures are not put in place to grow the sector.

He attributed his prediction to the fact that many veteran personnel in the sector are either retiring or dying without being replaced.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by Grameen Ghana in the Nanumba South District, he noted that government is making no attempt to recruit graduates from the Agric Colleges to replace exiting staff.

Sulemana Rahman made this known during a stakeholders’ forum organised by Grameen Ghana in the Nanumba South District.

“Agric will die, no staff no replacement, you will even write to the assembly and send it to Accra, nothing happens, the staff strength has dwindled. The Agric Colleges have produced the staff, they are in the house and are not employed, what is their fate, so the government should employ these our brothers, who have just come out of the Agric colleges and those who are still in Agric colleges to come replace us” he said.

A Minister of State at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr Nurah Gyiele ,admitted the weaknesses in Agric extension services.

He attributed the situation to low number 0f extension officers, and promised the situation will change.

According to him, the government has recruited 1,200 youth under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to shoot up the number of Agric extension agents.

“We have put in a request to the National Service Secretariat to assign 2,160 graduates from our universities to do their services in the various district assemblies as extension officers.”

Dr. Gyiele tasked beneficiary institutions of the MAG program to intensify their efforts and work collaboratively to ensure its successful implementation.

Source: Citifmonline