The government has allocated 750 acres of irrigated land at Konadu in the Kwahu East District of the Eastern region to 118 Ghanaian graduates trained in Russia to establish a commercial vegetable production project under the Feed Ghana Programme.
The allocation is expected to provide the graduates with immediate access to land and irrigation infrastructure to enable them apply the knowledge and skills acquired abroad, boost food production, create jobs and contribute to government’s drive to reduce food imports and strengthen national food security.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Eric Opoku, announced this in Accra yesterday when he welcomed the graduates, who recently completed postgraduate studies at the People’s Friendship University of Russia under a scholarship programme sponsored by the African Agribusiness Consortium (AAC) and the Jospong Group of Companies.
He said the land allocation formed part of an agreement between the Ministry and AAC, and was aimed at ensuring that the graduates were integrated into productive agriculture instead of joining the growing queue of unemployed graduates.
Under the agreement, Mr Opoku said, the ministry would provide the irrigated land while AAC would supply farm machinery and other logistics, as well as pay irrigation water charges to ensure the sustainable use of the facility.
“The responsibility of government is to make available the land and irrigation infrastructure, while AAC provides the logistics. Your responsibility is to demonstrate the difference by translating your knowledge into increased agricultural production,” he told the graduates.
The Minister said the graduates would engage in the cultivation, processing, storage, value addition, marketing and commercialisation of strategic agricultural commodities to enhance food security, create employment, promote import substitution and increase exports.
He described the graduates as a valuable human resource for Ghana’s agricultural transformation, stressing that the country required skilled, innovative and committed professionals to modernise agriculture and improve productivity across the value chain.
The Chief Executive Officer of the AAC, Mrs Adelaide Araba Siaw Agyepong, said the return of the graduates marked the beginning of a deliberate effort to convert academic knowledge into practical agricultural production and enterprise development.
She said 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 work 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 was committed to partnering government to ensure that the graduates became entrepreneurs, innovators and job creators capable of contributing meaningfully to Ghana’s agricultural transformation.
The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, said the decision to sponsor the students was informed by the conviction that investing in people remained the most sustainable investment any organisation could make.
He said the graduates had been trained to spearhead a new agricultural revolution in Ghana and urged them to remain committed to building successful agribusinesses despite the challenges associated with farming.
“Ghana is your home. Farming is not easy, but those who persevere succeed. Use the knowledge you acquired in Russia to transform agriculture and create opportunities for yourselves and others,” he advised.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
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