Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has committed to providing Ghanaian farmers with tractors and credit to enhance productivity and lower food prices.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Wa East, Dr. Bawumia highlighted the essential role of farming in ensuring food security and affordability.
He stressed that farming is crucial for reducing food prices and vowed to equip farmers with the resources needed to increase their yields. Dr. Bawumia pointed out the significant disparity in maize yields between Ghana and countries like Brazil and China, where farmers achieve 10 to 12 tons per acre compared to Ghana’s four tons per acre.
To bridge this gap, Dr. Bawumia plans to introduce advanced farming techniques from Brazil and China to Ghanaian farmers. He also announced the creation of “super aggregators” who would purchase produce directly from farmers, ensuring fair prices and minimizing post-harvest losses.
Dr. Bawumia underscored the importance of lime fertilizers for soil fertility, noting that Ghana possesses abundant lime deposits. He pledged to support farmers in transitioning to lime fertilizers to boost soil fertility and crop yields.
“I want to help our farmers. Farming is the key to bringing food prices down and we are going to help the farmers increase their productivity. If you go to Brazil, an acre of land, maize can come to 10 tons, in China they can get 12 tons, but in Ghana, we get only four tons.
“I’m going to apply the practices that we are seeing that have worked in Brazil and in China to our farmers in the Wa East District, to increase productivity.”
“We are going to establish super aggregators who will come and buy the produce from the farmers so that the food does not go to waste and they can get good prices for their goods.
“We are going to help the farmers with tractors and with credit for them to harvest and we are going to move from the normal fertilizer to lime. Lime makes our soil very fertile, and we have lime in Ghana and we are going to help our farmers use lime in Ghana.”
Dr. Bawumia’s promises aim to transform the agricultural sector, increase productivity, and ensure fair market conditions for Ghanaian farmers.
