Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the Government would launch an Agricultural Marshall Plan in November to enhance food production.
He said the Plan would focus on the use of scientific skills and knowledge approaches, provision of fertilizers to farmers and requisite storage and irrigation facilities to ensure high productivity.
The Vice President said the nation had sufficient arable lands, water resources and space to increase production and that she would tap the experiences of other countries that had implemented similar plans in the past.
He said there were available road networks that would facilitate the process to leverage on the public-private partnerships to enhance the infrastructural needs.
Vice President Bawumia said this at a media briefing after the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) High Level Panel Discussion, in Geneva, Switzerland.
The panel discussion, organised by the UNCTAD is on the theme: “Accelerating Progress in Building Productive Capacities in Least Developing Countries and Other Vulnerable Developing Economies”.
Vice President Bawumia said government would ensure inclusiveness in the implementation of the Plan by involving farmers, rural folks and all the relevant stakeholders to achieve success.
He noted that empirical research showed that human capital played a pivotal role in enhancing productivity, adding; “The Government of Ghana shared this vision in enhancing productivity”
“We cannot develop as a nation if a lot of the people don’t have the requisite knowledge, skills and education, therefore, we launched the Free Senior High School Policy, which we believe that with the right curriculum, we will produce the generation of people who are problem solvers,” he said.
To enhance the production capacity, he said, the nation must add value to the agricultural produce instead of exporting raw materials.
The Vice President said the “One District, One Factory,” initiative was a well thought-out plan for inclusive development of the 216 districts.
In the next few weeks, Dr Bawumia said, Government would launch the national digitisation of the economy, which would digitise the Public Address System, National Identification System and Interoperability of the Payment System, to boost the formalisation of the economy.
He said the digitisation of the economy would enhance quality delivery of services by state institutions and the private sector.
The implementation of the Paperless Ports from September 1, this year, had yielded positive dividend with 56 per cent increment of the ports revenue to the Government, he noted.
The Government, the Vice President said, would revamp the railway infrastructure to promote efficient transportation system that would accelerate national development.
UNCTAD is the United Nations body responsible for development issues, particularly international trade as the main driver of development.
Source: GNA | Ghana]]>
