Martey Declared 2012 Best Farmer

Young Lemuel Kwashie Martey, National Best Farmer 2012 with wife at yesterday’s event

Lemuel Kwashie Martey of Mannah Farms Limited, in Accra, was yesterday adjudged the 2012 national best farmer at a ceremony held at Abokobi in the Ga East District of the Greater Accra Region.

The best farmer would receive a fully-furnished three-bedroom house and a pick-up van as his prizes.

Mr Martey, 38, established the Mannah Farms Ltd about 10 years ago.

He has farms are at Abonya and Afienya in the Dangme West District of the Greater Accra Region.  He has about 98 acres of land under crop cultivation.  Mr. Martey cultivated crops and reared livestock.

His livestock enterprise includes ruminants, poultry, ducks, snails, rabbits and grass-cutters, rice and fish.

President John Mahama, addressing the gathering, pledged government’s preparedness to prioritise agricultural modernisation next year.

He stressed that agriculture held the key to transforming the country’s economy which had been the pillar to Ghana’s development.

“Studies and empirical evidence attest that increasing agricultural productivity by one percent leads to 0.72% reduction in rural poverty compared with 0.48% reducing in the other areas of the world,” he said.

He said efforts by government to increase cocoa output to one million metric tons were realised in 2011 with 1,024,000 metric tons.

Ghana, he said, now produced 53% of her rice requirement locally, up from 30% in 2009 and had reduced rice imports by 30%.

He said recent developments on the global agricultural front such as the rising cost of agricultural inputs, fuel, seeds, fertilizers and machinery as well as the rising food prices posed significant threats to Ghana’s macroeconomic stability and overall development achievements.

The president therefore promised the commitment of his administration to sustain the achievements chalked by the NDC administration since it took over power in 2009.

President Mahama stressed his government’s preparedness to promote selected crops, as well as equitable distribution of resources to support farmer-based organisations (FBOs).

The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwoi, noted that there were several interventions to open up the sector to modern business culture and technology adoption so as to make Ghana’s agriculture and farmers competitive in the global context.

He stressed that one way of making farmers competitive was to strengthen FBOs and therefore commended the sponsors of this year’s Farmers’ Day.

In all, 74 farmers and fish-farmers were honoured for their outstanding contribution to the economy at the colourful event themed ‘Grow More Food: Strengthening Farmer-Based Organisations For Market Place Bargaining Power’.

The first runner-up was 51-year-old Enoch Elder Tei from the Greater Accra Region, while Ellen Attiah, a 28-year-old woman from the Upper East region, was adjudged the       second           runner-up.
Kwamina Oboh from the Central Region was the national best fisherman.

Mr. Oboh would be provided with a double-cabin truck provided by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

Since the inception of the celebration of the Farmers’ Day in 1985, about 1,500 farmers have received awards for their outstanding contributions to the bread basket of this predominantly agriculture-driven country.
The awardees include 50 monocrop farmers, 10 extension officers, three best national farmers and their extension attaches, three best fisher categories and their extension attaches, one overall best extension officer and winners of the ‘What do you know?’ quiz on agriculture.

The total budget for the event was GH¢3,826,446, including both materials and cash.