A three-day agricultural fair is underway in Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital.
About 50 exhibitors made up of local fertiliser manufacturers, fertiliser importers, agrochemical dealers, retailers, research institutions, service providers, consumers, farmer-based organisations and academia are participating at the event.
It is being organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in partnership with the Bono Regional Coordinating Council.
The fair is on the theme “Promoting Market Linkages through Agricultural Fairs” and it aims to bring together all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain with the view to promoting agriculture through exhibition of Agric products and services.
Opening the fair, the Bono Regional Minister, Ms Justina Owusu Banahene, said the fair would help to showcase modern forms of agriculture and to clear the misconception of the youth about farming.
She noted that governments over the years had rolled out various policies and programmes towards increasing productivity and food security to enhance socio-economic development of the country.
The minister called on the youth to take advantage of the government’s interventions in the Planting for Food and Jobs, One District One Factory, to change and better their lots.
Ms Banahene called on the public to appreciate the efforts of farmers and agriculturalists for their role in ensuring food sustainability in the country.
The Bono Regional MoFA Director, Mr Dennis Abugri Amenga, said his outfit since March this year, had supported various initiatives aimed at addressing mounting gabs and promoting market linkages along the agricultural value chain in the region.
The fair he said was one of the strategies to accelerate efforts towards transforming the Agric sector in the region.
The 2017 National Best Farmer, Mr Philip Kwaku Agyemang, appealed to the MoFA and the government to continue to support farmers with the necessary inputs and logistics in the area of technical know-how to boost the sector.
This, he said could go a long way to change the mindset of the youth towards the agric sector.
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH, SUNYANI
