Embrace Risks in Agric Sector-GAPTO

By Emmanuel Kubi
Daily Guide: Sept. 29,2010
THE GHANA Agricultural Producers and Traders Organization (GAPTO) has urged financial institutions in the country not to shy away from risks associated with investing in the agriculture sector but rather embrace them and find better ways of overcoming them.
According to the association, financial institutions should absorb these risks and offer tailored solutions to address them by providing support through the construction of modernized irrigation systems where the sector would not rely solely on rain feed cropping.
Speaking in an interview on Rite FM in Somanya recently, the Secretary General of GAPTO, Haruna Agesheka said agriculture in Ghana is risky because of the rain-fed nature of the sector adding it is not a prudent way sustain the nation’s agriculture.
Agesheka said the over-dependence on rainfall has made the production of certain agriculture products unprofitable due to lean seasons and the lack of processing and storage facilities to preserve the annual glut that affects farmers.
“Because we rely on the rains all year round for farming, banks do not want to give money to people involved in onion, leafy vegetables and tomato cultivation since they will not get their profits back at the end of the day,” he lamented.
The General Secretary said because of this Ghana has to import such produce from Burkina Faso, Niger, Cote d’ ivoire and Togo during the lean season “even though Ghana has more fertile lands in abundance than these countries.”
He noted that the situation can be reversed “if financial institutions invest heavily in the construction of irrigation dams to increase productivity and sustenance.”
“Banks should not run away from the risks involved in agriculture but rather absorb the risks by ensuring that we have water throughout the whole year to grow our crops, harvest them and pay back the loans they have offered to us,” he added.
He said organizations like FAGRO, insurance companies and institution who are experts in agro risk management should be brought on board to formulate plans to reduce risks in the sector.
He noted that modern techniques in irrigation systems can be fully harnessed to the benefit of small holder farmer towards the realization of reducing poverty among them.
Mr. Agesheka also charged government to move away from conducting irrigation projects on a pilot basis into full-scale implementation.
“It is time for governments do away with pilot projects on irrigation and work hard to sustain the sector.”