Member of Parliament (MP) for Ahafo Ano South, Elvis Osei-Mensah Dapaah, has expressed concerns about the government’s insufficient investments in the agricultural sector, emphasizing its pivotal role in sustaining the country’s economy.
He made this statement on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 , while reflecting on the recent State of the Nation’s Address (SONA) on Thursday, February 27, 2025, where the President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama highlighted the investments made in the agricultural sector.
“I closely followed the President’s SONA and upon reviewing the budget allocations, I realised the agricultural sector received only $1.5billion which I describe as peanut, considering it as a relatively small investment,” he stated.
In his opinion, the agricultural sector’s contribution to the nation’s economy is invaluable, and the allocated funds are too meagre.
“In Ghana here too, basically agriculture holds us so that amount is too small, even with the communication sector, the money invested there was much as compared to the agricultural sector.
“I realised my colleagues the NDC do not want Ghanaians to be happy in the country so I had to alert them because today, if we Ghanaians rely on agriculture, and little money was invested in the agriculture sector, then it means in the near future, we’ll have to import foodstuffs,” he emphasized.
According to him, a thriving agricultural sector would enable the country to become a food exporter, creating employment opportunities for the youth and ensuring citizens live comfortably.
He emphasized that, a significant number of graduates from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who studied agricultural production are unable to get employment opportunities and are at home.
“There are so many people who attended KNUST’s agricultural faculty and gained expertise in rice farming, maize farming, cassava farming and so on; why don’t we also invest in agriculture for the youth to also get employment?” he queried.
He urged government to invest heavily in agriculture, pointing out that, it will be a lucrative source of revenue for the state.
“I studied agriculture in KNUST and I know what is entailed, if the government invests in agriculture, unemployment rate will reduce,” he said.
