The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Eric Opoku, has called for partnership with corporate Ghana to promote sustainable food production and ensure food security in the country.

“It’s a national duty for Ghanaians to enhance domestic food production, promote the consumption of locally produced foods, and build a resilient food system for generations to come; it’s a call to action and all stakeholders must respond to make agriculture more attractive,” he emphasised.

Mr Eric Opoku (inset) speaking at the ceremony in Ho

The Minister made the call here in Ho at the opening ceremony of the 2025 National Agricultural Fair ahead of the 41st National Farmers’ Day celebration on Friday.

He said the theme for the national celebration, “Feed Ghana Eat Ghana, Secure the Future,” challenged Ghanaians to strengthen agricultural value chains from production to processing, storage, distribution, and marketing.

Mr Opoku said agriculture remained the engine for job creation, nutrition, and economic transformation, and said the government was making conscious efforts to promote agriculture activities that would ensure quality and abundant food production to reduce food importation.

He commended the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) for its continuous efforts in promoting agriculture activities over the years, and also thanked GLICO General for providing a comprehensive insurance cover for this year’s National Farmers Day celebration in Ho.

Mr Opoku announced that the insurance cover, with an aggregate limit of GH¢500,000.00, safeguarded all participants, exhibitors, and guests throughout the period of the celebration.

Mr Opoku said universities including the Ho Technical University (HTU) and the University of Cape Coast would be displaying their modest research findings that would promote agriculture in the country, and called on farmers and other stakeholders to ensure networking to enable them to share best practices.

The Chief Director at the Ministry of Fisheries, Ms Marian Kpakpa, said fishing and aquaculture were crucial in the provision of the needed nutrition for Ghanaians, saying deliberate efforts were being made to improve on fish production to meet the fish needs of the people.

Ms Kpakpa observed that artisan fishing played an important role in national development; however, climate change and its effects on fishing were threatening the fishing sector, adding that the rising cost of fish processing was one of the developments her outfit was dealing with to ensure regular supply of fish to the populace.

According to her, the future of the fishing sector largely depended on sustainable and environmental practices, and she would work hard to build a resilient and sustainable fishing sector to provide the needs of Ghanaians and reduce fish importation.

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr James Gunu, said the agriculture fair would promote opportunities in the region for investors to explore and invest, saying the fair would also promote local economic growth as residents leveraged the available opportunities associated with the fair to market agricultural products of the region.