Speaking at the meeting in Accra last Friday, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, appealed to the Czech delegation and their Ghanaian counterparts to come up with pragmatic measures that will facilitate the flow of investment into the agricultural sector in Ghana.

He called on the delegation to support the local agricultural sector through joint ventures and investments, and reiterated the fact that Ghana had identified agricultural transformation as a major driver of the economic transformational agenda.

He explained that the vision to transform the agricultural sector was focused on assisting smallholder farmers to boost their production.

He said those farmers grew more than 95 per cent of the country’s produce but their yields were very low by international standards due to lack of support from both the public and the private sectors.

“Our strategy is to support them with improved seeds, fertilizers, hand-held machinery, among other forms of support, to increase their yields and make agriculture attractive for more people, thereby creating more jobs as well,” he said.

Investment priority areas

Presenting an overview of the local agricultural sector to the Czech delegation, a director at the ministry, Mrs Angela Dannson, said the key investment priority areas in Ghana’s agricultural transformation agenda included the Planting for Foods and Jobs programme, irrigation farming, mechanisation and post-harvest management.

Other priority areas for investment were poultry and egg production, industrial crop production and livestock development, she added.

Remarks by Czech Republic officials

In his remarks, the Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, Mr Marian Jurecka, said the delegation was encouraged by Ghana’s commitment to transform the sector.

He said the Czech Republic had a similar political story like Ghana’s and, therefore, it was in a better position to understand the needs of Ghana’s agricultural sector and had the capacity to partner Ghana to transform its agricultural sector.

For his part, the Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr Martin Tlapa, said the visit was underpinned by the fact that the Czech Republic considered Ghana as a very important partner to work with for mutual benefits.

“We are here, therefore, to find out how we can enhance our relationship and find out how we can support Ghana’s development agenda,” he added.

Making a contribution, the Deputy Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic, Mr Thomas Kopecny, underscored the need for both countries to learn from each other in the area of defence.