HO MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY HOLDS 40TH FARMERS DAY AT HOE
A 52 -year-old farmer, Madam Beauty Gogah from Hodzo has been crown the overall best farmer in Ho Municipality at 40th Farmers Day Celebration held at Hoe.
She received a tricycle, knapsack sprayer, a raincoat, wellington boots, four cutlasses, two containers each of weedicides and insecticides as well as a certificate of recognition.
Madam Gogah has variety of crops including 28 acres of maize, 20 acres of cassava, 20 acres of cowpea, eight acres of okra, five acres of rice, four acres of palm plantation, two acres of yam, one acre of coconut, half an acre of sugar cane, one acre of groundnut and citrus trees.
A total of 10 farmers including a 55-year-old physically challenged farmer from Takla Tokor, Mr. Evans Gbedzivor, who received the Best Physically Challenged Farmer Award were awarded for their hard work, at the durbar which was celebrated on the theme: “Building Climate-Resilient Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security,”.
Madam Gogah was grateful to the Ho Municipal Assembly particularly the Department of Agriculture for their relentless effort to support for farmers.
She urged the citizenry particularly women, to venture into farming to benefit from, what she described as numerous opportunities to make them financially stable as well as contribute to the nation’s development.
The Municipal Best Farmer, appealed to the government to support farmers with loans, this she is optimistic will address their financial challenges and help increase their yields.
In his address, the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Hon Divine R. K Bosson, outlined some government initiatives aimed at transforming the agricultural sector such as Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development, One Constituency One Warehouse, One Village One Dam, and the support for poultry and livestock production.
He noted that these flagship programmes are proof of the government’s commitment towards improving the agriculture sector.
The Hon. MCE pledge government’s continuous effort to address challenges such as limited access to finance, poor road networks, high costs of agricultural inputs, and post-harvest losses.
He was optimistic that the District Road Improvement Programme, DRIP, will help improve access to farm roads.
The Municipal Director Agriculture, Mr. Godwin Agbenyegah, disclosed that the government, through the Food System Resilience Project in partnership with GMet and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), had developed an early weather warning system to address the climate change situation.
The system he said can predict weather patterns even at the district level, providing crucial information to help farmers plan effectively.
He mentioned that the Municipal Assembly has also made strides in promoting cash crop cultivation adding that under the Planting for Export and Rural Development programme, the assembly distributed 35,000 coconut seedlings and 20,000 mango seedlings to 231 farmers across the municipality.
Mr. Agbenyegah indicated that the department hopes to increase agricultural production in the municipality by 300 per cent by 2028, starting with a targeted 60 per cent boost in the yield of staple crops and vegetables by the end of 2025.
The Paramount Chief of Hoe Traditional Area, Togbega Sesinu V, cautioned farmers against practices that leads to bushfires and thereby destroys the farmlands and the environment at large.
Personnel of the National Fire Service staged a drama to educate farmers on the causes, effects, and prevention of bushfires.
On display were variety of food crops such as maize, plantain, beans, yam, potatoes pepper, rice, eggplant, palm fruits among others,cultivated by farmers in the Ho Municipality.
Story by Yvonne Elikplim Harlley
Municipal Information Officer.
Photo Credit: Francis Agbesi Dey (MIS officer)