APA-Somanya (Ghana)Ghanaian PresidentJohn Evans Atta Mills on Friday announced on National Farmers Day in Somanya (80km north of Accra), that the country reaped a benefit of US$48.12 million from fish farming in the country, a feat he described as very commendable.
The sector formerly imported fish in the area of US$200 million over the past two years and the announcement will bring back some form of smile to the Ghanaian economy which depended largely on the import sector.
Speaking at the 26th National Best Farmer Awards ceremony at Somanya in the Eastern Region of Ghana, President Mills said in the face of global financial and food crisis, Ghana could produce enough foods both tuber and cereals to feed the population and the agriculture sector will still remain the backbone of the Ghanaian economy despite oil find.
He said cocoa earned the Ghanaian economy US$1.8 billion in foreign exchange and said the country has targeted one million tonnes of cocoa in 2012.
But he was quick to add that import of rice has reached almost US$500 million, a situation which he said was militating against job creation and that was why the 2011 budget introduced some taxes to reduce rice importation.
President Mills was commended for reading a speech full of figures without looking on any script.
Ghana’s Agriculture Minister, Kwesi Ahwoi, said agriculture in 2010 contributed to the single digit inflation attained in Ghana with the lowest rate of inflation for the past 16 years.
National Farmers Day was instituted in 1985 to recognise the contribution of farmers to food security.
