The government has allocated 750 acres of irrigated land at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region to 118 Ghanaian graduates trained in Russia to undertake commercial vegetable production under the Feed Ghana Programme.
The move is expected to give the graduates immediate access to land and irrigation infrastructure, enabling them to apply skills acquired abroad, increase food production, create jobs and support efforts to reduce food imports.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Eric Opoku, announced this in Accra yesterday when he received the graduates, who recently completed postgraduate studies at the People’s Friendship University of Russia under a scholarship scheme sponsored by the African Agribusiness Consortium (AAC) and the Jospong Group of Companies.
Mr Opoku said the allocation formed part of an agreement between the ministry and AAC to ensure that the graduates moved into productive agriculture rather than joining the ranks of the unemployed.
Under the arrangement, he said the ministry would provide the irrigated land, while AAC would supply farm machinery and other logistics, and also pay irrigation water charges to guarantee sustainable use of the facility.
He told the graduates that government had created the enabling environment and expected them to translate their knowledge into increased agricultural output.
The minister further explained that the beneficiaries would be involved in cultivation, processing, storage, value addition, marketing and commercialisation of key agricultural commodities to strengthen food security, create employment, promote import substitution and increase exports.
He described the graduates as a critical human resource for Ghana’s agricultural transformation, underscoring the need for skilled and innovative professionals to modernise the sector and improve productivity along the value chain.
Mr Opoku reiterated that agriculture remained central to the government’s economic transformation agenda, with the Feed Ghana Programme focused on boosting production, promoting agribusiness and creating sustainable jobs.
He commended AAC and the Jospong Group of Companies for investing in the training of young Ghanaians, noting that the initiative underscored the vital role of the private sector in human capital development.
He urged other private sector actors and development partners to support similar initiatives in agricultural education and skills development.
The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, stated that the decision to sponsor the students was driven by the belief that investing in people remained the most sustainable form of investment.
He urged the graduates to remain committed to building successful agribusinesses despite the challenges in the sector, reminding them that perseverance was key to success.
He advised them to use the knowledge acquired in Russia to transform agriculture and create opportunities for themselves and others.
The Chief Executive Officer of the African Agribusiness Consortium, Mrs Adelaide Araba Siaw Agyepong, said the return of the graduates marked the start of a deliberate effort to translate academic knowledge into practical agricultural production and enterprise development.
She noted that 88 of the graduates specialised in agronomy, while 30 studied ecology, equipping them with expertise in crop production, soil and plant health, sustainable agriculture, climate change and environmental management.
Mrs Agyepong appealed to the ministry to collaborate with AAC to develop a structured framework to integrate the graduates into commercial agriculture, research, mechanisation, climate-smart agriculture and value addition.
She said the consortium remained committed to partnering government to ensure that the graduates became entrepreneurs, innovators and job creators capable of contributing to Ghana’s agricultural transformation.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
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