Some of the youth interacting with dignitaries at the forum
The Progressive Youth, Ghana, a youth organisation in Komenda in the Central Region, has called on the government to work to operationalise the Komenda Sugar Factory to create jobs for young people in and around the area.
Speaking at a forum to mark this year’s International Youth Day in Cape Coast last Thursday, a founder member of the group, Mr Ransford Vanny-Amoah, said while efforts were made to encourage the youth through many fora, there had not been corresponding structures on the ground to support them.
He said the association had mobilised over 100 youth from Komenda and its environs to cultivate sugarcane to feed the factory.
However, Mr Vanny-Amoah said, their proposal to the bank for support and their arrangements for 200 acres had been halted because efforts to operationalise the factory had still not been materialised.
The Central Region Office of the National Youth Authority (NYA) organised the forum to mark the day which falls on August 12 each year.
Theme
It was on the theme: “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”.
Mr Vanny-Amoah noted that the situation was not helping the youth, many of whom were expecting that the factory would bring relief and ease the unemployment situation in the area.
“Five years on, we still don’t know what is happening to the youth but they keep advising us to venture into agriculture,” he said.
Venture into agriculture
The Central Regional Director of Agriculture, Dr Peter Omega, touching on youth unemployment, said there should be a strong agricultural base to support the agro-processing ventures under the One-district, One-factory initiative to ensure constant supply of raw materials.
He called on the youth to venture into agriculture and adopt technologically enhanced methods to reverse the possible food insecurity in the country.
Dr Omega noted with concern that the waning interest of the youth in agriculture had worsened efforts at ensuring food security for the country.
He said there was an urgent need to replace the ageing farmer population with the youth to urgently sustain and enhance food production.
He said research had indicated that the current farmer population was aged between 55 and 60 years while the life expectancy of the farmers was also pegged at 60.
That, he said, meant that the country’s farmer population would soon be at critically low numbers, adding that the interest of the youth in farming remained one sure way to improve food security and reduce the high importation of food.
He advised the youth to venture into agriculture to help salvage the food production sector.
Release land
He called for award schemes for the youth in agriculture and appealed to traditional authorities to release land to support the youth in agriculture.
He noted that other areas which were relatively underdeveloped in the agricultural sector included the development of applications, marketing and processing and urged them to also develop interest in those areas.
The Central Regional Director of the National Youth Authority, Mr Emmanuel Ofosu, for his part, stated that the expectation of transforming food systems was achievable if the youth were properly targeted and supported by effectively promoting Youth in Agriculture programmes.
Dream and dedication
He urged the youth to have a dream, be dedicated and disciplined to ensure success.
The 2020 Best Farmer for Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira district in the Central Region, Mr Isaac Egyir, urged agriculture-related agencies to help the youth to understand the value of agriculture and support them with resources to succeed in the sector.
He noted that the teaching of agriculture, for instance, had become abstract and pledged to support fruit gardening in the schools.
Other speakers called on the youth to acquire the requisite knowledge and technological skills to enable them to embark on smarter farming practices.
