AGRA Touts Its Achievement In Ghana

AGRA has done a lot of work in Ghana in the area of policy and State capability, Dr. Dorothy Effa, the Policy Officer of AGRA, has said.

The Plant and Fertilizer Act of 2010 according to her, was supported by AGRA which paved the way for private sector participation in the seed industry.

Before the enactment of the Plant and Fertilizer Act, she said, seed production in the country was solely done by the government before they liberalized it for private participation.

Speaking in an interview with Capitalnewsonline.com in Accra, Dr. Effa explained that after the coming into being of the law there was the need to implement it.

She said, “You cannot implement the law without regulation the reason why AGRA supported government with seed regulation.”

The regulation of the seed industry according to her also paves the way for private sector involvement in seed production and marketing as well as the establishment of the seed council.

Bashiru Dokurugu, the Program Officer of AGRA in charge of Inclusive Market and Trade, said plans are in the offing for his outfit to build the capacity of farmers in Ghana and pick intelligence from the market with regards to the varieties of produce that sells and relay the information to farmers.

The information given to farmers, Dokurugu explained, would inure to the benefit of farmers so that they would not waste their time and resources to cultivate farm produce that would not meet the demand of the market.

Juliette Lampoh-Agroh, the Country Manager of AGRA, said there was a need to build what she described as “linkage platforms” that would link the value chain actors.

The value chain actors comprising producers, service providers, and buyers according to her must be linked using technology so that there would be accessibility to those who need the information.

She said, “Whatever the market wants the producers are able to tell before they go into production and plan appropriately and produce the right things because the incentive and the communication has to be both ways.

That is from the farmers’ end and the buyers’ end hence AGRA wants to build the “linkage platforms” and make it more efficient and should be in place and functioning by themselves.”

Source: Adovor Nutifafa
dovor100@gmail.com