Dr. Afriyie Akoto said the fund could be used to mitigate the plight of farmers in distressed times, like recently where some farmers have been calling for the government’s financial support after their farms were ravaged by armyworms.

In the heat of the armyworm crisis, the government had to release GHc 16 million to combat the pests.

Speaking during a meeting with farmers, Dr. Afriyie Akoto proposed that part of the oil revenue should be used for such a venture.

“I have a very strong belief that we should use those resources [oil revenue] to fund agriculture so your special Agric fund, that is where I am looking to and I want you to help me to direct this to Mr. President,” Dr. Afriyie Akoto said to the farmers.

This is something the Minister noted he pushed for when he was a Member of Parliament for eight years.

He argued further that investing in agriculture aligned with the New Patriotic Party government’s agenda for jobs.

“We should have a significant portion of our oil and gas revenue to set up an agriculture fund. Oil and gas will not give you employment. It will give you the cash, but it won’t give you the employment Ghana desperately needs for our young people.”

“… So we need to exploit and make sure that we have a conscious effort to put a substantial portion of that [oil] revenue aside to support our agriculture and that is the only way we will get out of this problem [of unemployment].”

The 2017 budget earmarked about GHc 450.33 million for the agriculture sector.

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By: Sammi Wiafe/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Set up special Agric fund from oil money – Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The conglomerate plans to increase its production of sugar to 1.5 million metric tons a year by 2020 from 100,000 tons now and is seeking to add 1 million tons of rice, Edwin Devakumar, executive director at Dangote’s industries unit, said Tuesday in an interview in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. The company also plans to have 50,000 cattle producing 500 million liters of milk a year by 2019, he said.

A lack of foreign exchange means companies are struggling to pay for imported goods, increasing the burden on local agriculture to meet demand for food from Nigeria’s population of more than 180 million, Devakumar said. “All raw sugar has to be imported today, same thing for flour milling,” he said.

Dangote, whose cement unit is Nigeria’s biggest listed company, has been investing in agriculture as the country’s government seeks to diversify away from oil, which accounts for 90 percent of the nation’s export earnings and the bulk of revenue. The economy, which plunged into its first recession in a quarter-century last year amid falling crude prices, is forecast by the World Bank to expand by 1.2 percent this year.

The company has established Dangote Rice Ltd. and will list the unit on the Nigerian Stock Exchange “at the appropriate time,” Devakumar said.

Dangote plans to cultivate 350,000 hectares (864,850 acres) of land for sugar cane and add 200,000 hectares for rice, according to the executive director. The company has ordered five plants for sugar milling and 10 for rice from Switzerland to be located in the north of the country, he said.

Sourcing Funds
The Lagos-based company will finance the projects through “internal resources or equity funding” and loans from banks and export-credit agencies, Devakumar said. The funds will be used mainly to procure “farm-development equipment” as well as sugar and rice mills, he said.

Dangote is “at the planning stage’’ to invest in other agricultural projects including production of soybean, oil palm, palm kernel and corn, according to the executive director. It will support rice cultivation by supplying high-yield seeds, pesticides and fertilizers to contract farmers, he said.

Aliko Dangote, 60, has a net worth of $12.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That ranks him just inside the top 100 worldwide.

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Source: Bloomberg

The post Dangote invests $4.6 billion into farming in Nigeria appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the PFAG, which lauded Citi FM and government’s campaign against galamsey, said galamsey threatened food security and health.

Speaking at the 2017 inauguration of the fertilizer watchdog committees in the three regions of the North at Paga in the Upper East Region, the Regional Coordinator of PFAG, Mrs. Victoria Adongo, said the move by government to stop galamsey was apt, adding that, there were several alternatives for the illegal miners including farming.

“Galamsey activities have taken over the land of the farmers and have polluted and poisoned the water bodies. We (PFAG) did a research and realized that most of the water was full of arsenic, actually some of the food stuff and vegetable produce, there ware traces of arsenic in the food.”

That is why we are emphasizing our support for government’s actions against galamsey activities in the country. But we should also recognize that; what will these galamsey operators be doing after their activities are successfully stopped by government? What are the alternatives?

“That is why we(PFAG) are inviting the galamsey people to join us do farming, now that agriculture is being transformed in Ghana, farming is the safest, most secure, and less troublesome area to engage in” Mrs. Adongo advised.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Stop galamsey, start farming – Peasant Farmers advocate appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.