The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday 6th April, 2022 presented a cheque of GHC 600.000 to the 2021 National Best Farmer, Alhaji Mashud Mohammed at the Forecourt of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
This was in fulfillment of the bank’s continuous pledged to be the lead sponsor of the Farmers’ Day Celebrations.
The Managing Director of ADB, Dr. John Kofi Mensah said the ceremony to present the cheque was to officially hand over the ultimate prize to Mr Mohammed, the ultimate winner of the 2021 National Best Farmer Awards, which was held in Cape Coast in the Central Region.
He said ADB is satisfied with Mr Mohammed’s proposal to invest the money in a broiler project with a total cost of about GHC 1.1 million and an additional GHC 500.000 for the project.
Dr. Mensah said ADB remain committed to ensuring that the Agricultural sector continues to play its critical role in the National Economy. He however acknowledged the problems in the sector, saying the bank was aware of the challenges facing the poultry sector, and assured the Country that there was a planned collaboration with the Ministry and other Stakeholders to strengthen the sector.
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto used the occasion to appeal to commercial banks to invest in local commercial farmers, encouraging the banks to partner farmers and the Government to further strengthen the Agricultural sector as the backbone of the economy.
He said the support of the banks would help in the expansion of the sector and that would help create more jobs. He said despite the global food price increase, amidst COVID-19, government continued to adopt proactive measure to overcome challenges.
Alhaji Mashud Mohammed expressed his heartfelt gratitude to ADB and MoFA for their generosity and continued support that enabled him to attain his feat.
He acknowledged the fact that there were challenges with securing fertilizer but remained confident that with the help of the government measures will be put in place to counter the situation.
He also gave the assurance that the money would be used to improve his agricultural activities.
By Urowoli Phillip
Assistant PRO, MoFA