The Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) congratulates all the farmers who received various awards in the 2018 National Best Farmer awards celebration for their enormous contribution towards the success and sustainability of the school feeding programme. James Obeng Boateng, a 60-year-old farmer from the Nkoranza South District of the Brong Ahafo Region, was crowned the National Best Farmer for 2018 and was rewarded with a cheque for GHS 480,000 in addition to other prizes. Mr. Boateng has been farming for the past 18 years, producing cassava, cocoyam, cereals, okra, peppers, garden eggs, mango, and cashew. He also rears cattle, goats, sheep, and manages two fish ponds as well as 100 boxes of beehives.
As renowned farmer Brenda Schoepp said, “every person once in a lifetime needs a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher, but three times everyday, you need a farmer.”
In a statement issued by the National Coordinator of GSFP, Dr. Kwame Adu Nsiah said GSFP is grateful to their farmers for the immeasurable roles they have played and continue to play in producing and supplying the food stuffs required for the sustainability and success of the School Feeding Programme which nourishes children in the beneficiary schools. He also called on the youth of Ghana to develop interest in farming and also enroll onto the government flagship agricultural programmes ‘Planting for Food and Jobs and food processing,’ to ensure the continuous availability of food. The Ghana School Feeding Programme appeals to the 2018 National Best Farmer, James Obeng Boateng, to use his rich experience to inspire more youth to venture into farming and also encourage other farmers to be passionate to the school feeding by supplying food to caterers at reduced prices as part of their individual contributions to the programme in their local schools. Dr Kwame Adu Nsiah also encouraged heads of schools to reintroduce school gardens in the various beneficiary schools to complement the programme as part of agricultural science studies at school.
The efforts of the farmers in sustaining the GSFP have directly created jobs for over 9,700 caterers and 19,400 cooks and several indirect jobs to transporters who cart the food from the farms or markets to caterers nationwide.
The National Secretariat of the GSFP therefore assures stakeholders of the resolve to continue to work with the farmers for more food supply in line with NPP government’s vision of eradicating poverty and hunger, depending solely on local farmers to feed beneficiaries of the School Feeding Programme.
Source: www.watchghana.com
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