Former President John Dramani Mahama has assured that farmers will be given guaranteed prices for cereals and other legumes if he is voted into power.
He said, “We will give minimum guaranteed prices to farmers to keep the cost of food stable in the country by allowing the private sector to join the National Buffer stock in their operation to mop up excess food in the system, even if the prices of cereals are low.”
He said this would help the Buffer stock to store and release the food when prices were high to keep enough food in the country and at the same time give farmers good price for their produce.
The former President was speaking at a farmers’ forum held at Tumu as part of the ‘Build the Ghana We Want tour’ to the Sissala area.
He said, “I know some of you have started the production of sesame, which is a high-value crop. Such farmers will be supported with small loans so that you can expand and export.”
Former President Mahama also outlined key initiatives to support the agricultural sector and expressed the commitment to providing farm input and encouraged the formation of cooperatives among the farmers to make it easier for them to get the needed support.
He assured farmers that the farmers’ service centre he launched in Gwollu in 2016 would be brought back in all districts of the country to create a one-stop shop for the farmers to access inputs from fertilizer, seeds, machinery including a micro -credit scheme to farmers to borrow.
“I will do something about the roads and the bridge especially from Bawiesebelle to Duu and the other areas to ensure that you cart your food products to market centres safely,” he assured.
He added that with the poor implementation of the current government’s s One Village One Dam (1V1D) policy, which was poorly conceptualised, the government of NDC would build real dams that could contain water and sustain agriculture activities for both plants and animals.
Answering a question about the defunct cotton industry, he said if voted, they would revamp the cotton ginnery and give input to farmers for government to buy from them.
“We have a ginnery here in Tumu, Bolgatanga and Tamale and I will bring back cotton production,” he said.
The former president also addressed challenges in the education sector, promising to scrap the licensure exams and incorporate teacher trainee licensing into their finalyear exams at the Colleges.
On agri business, Mr Mahama acknowledged and lauded the efforts of Kedan, a maize processing factory in Tumu, and expressed his commitment to support agribusiness of Kedan and others in line with his 24-hour economy promise.
Mr Mohammed Bataglia, the NDC Parliamentary candidate for the Sissala East, said John Mahama was a man of integrity and a man of his words who would not use deception to win power.
Mr Razak Mahama Navri, the Sissala East constituency chairman of the NDC called for unity and promised to work hard to snatch the Parliamentary seat from the ruling NPP.