Mr. Kojo Bonsu, Former Mayor of Kumasi and Presidential aspirant congratulates farmers on National Farmers Day.

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Mr. Kojo Bonsu, former Mayor of Kumasi and Presidential aspirant wishes to congratulate and salute All farmers on the occasion of the National Farmers Day.

This annual celebration was purposely intended to elevate and celebrate the Ghanaian farmer who is the back bone of our economy.

I would like to use this special occasion to say Ayeeko to the All the hard working women across this nation who provide the greatest and most committed input into our food production.

As patriotic citizens, is important to honour the outstanding achievement of our farmers who daily toil under the harshest of conditions to provide essential food for our families all over the country.

As a nation blessed with a comparative advantage to grow food, we must be concerned about our current growing penchant for imported foods that are procured with often scarce foreign currency at the expense of providing a local farmer a job.

I wish to encourage All Ghanaians to be more patriotic in our attitude towards consuming our local produce at every meal. The unfortunate irony is that our local foods are infact of a higher nutritional value than those we import. For every input in our meals that we source locally, we help to sustain the job and livelihood of a local farmer and their dependants. This positive attitude therefore can sustain the local economy of many communities as we are largely an agrarian society.

While we seek to have greater productivity from our farms we must be careful not to upset the delicate balance of the natural ecosystem which includes many plants, insects, birds and other animals that play a beneficial role in nature.

The integrity of the environment today is a great worry in Ghana and I weep for future generations unborn if we continue on this reckless path of excessive inorganic fertilizer and pesticide use.

As a stakeholder concerned about Ghana’s future, I cannot let such a day pass without a repeated call for decisive and effective from leadership that will ensure that the laws of this land are enforced without fear nor favour. The rate at which farm lands especially those on which the nations flagship cash crop cocoa is grown are being destroyed is alarming and a clear and present danger for our national security.

Our agricultural policies must work to focus on serving the interests of farmers and we must ensure that out National Development Planning Commission works with the relevant stakeholders so that we fashion out an agricultural policy that is informed by our long term aspirations and interests as a people.

Long Live Farmers, Long Live Ghana!