Contribute financially towards government policies - Dan Botwe woos private sector businesses

Training program on Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana held in Accra

MAG aims to create avenue for key officials at the decentralized levels to discuss issues on agriculture

Agricultural extension agents reached more than 5 million farmers in 2020 because of MAG, Canadian Embassy official

The Minister of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development,

Read full articlehref='/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=2410'>Dan Botwe, has called on institutions in the private sector to contribute financial resources, technology, marketing and supply linkages to the promotion of government initiatives.

He explained that such support from the private sector will go a long way in amplifying government policies such as the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) programme.

“As an all-inclusive process, LED requires continuous sensitization, awareness creation, information-sharing and training for communities and other stakeholders to facilitate effective participation in sustainable partnerships that must be built by the MMDAs.

“Even though, a local approach, the central government and the private sector has an important role to play in the process. It is the role of the central government to create an enabling and regulatory environment that supports LED, while private sector institutions should contribute financial resource, technology, marketing and supply linkages to support LED.

“It is the Ministry’s hope, that this training will be far from business as usual and that MMDAs will initiate and implement LED activities using the lessons learnt from the implementation of the MAG Programme in the bid to harness the gains made in the MAG implementation,” he said.

Dan Botwe made this known at a two-day Training Program on Sustaining MAG Gains and Local Economic Development.

The objective of the Program is to create an avenue for key officials at the decentralized levels to discuss the way forward after the implementation of the MAG, and deepen their understanding of the role of agriculture in achieving Local Economic Development.

Also speaking at the event, Candace Holt, who is the Senior Development Officer at the Canadian Embassy in Ghana, said that there had been several gains of the MAG in Ghana in the last five years.

“After 5 years of implementation of activities under the MAG program, we’ve seen excellent results.

“In 2020, agricultural extension agents reached more than 5 million farmers and supported other agricultural value chain participants on improved techniques, processing, packaging and marketing,” she said.

The MAG program is supported by the government of Canada, Global Affairs - Canada, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).