Report by NANA NYARKO
Cultural display and reading are greatly promoted in all the basic schools in the country. Now, the Best Farmer for the year 2020 in the Twifo Atti-Morkwa District, Mr. Isaac Agyiri, believes that the same effort should be made to promote agriculture in our basic schools.
Mr. Agyiri is the head teacher of Afedzi D/A primary school in the district. He is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Showbouy Farms in the district and is popularly known as ‘Show Boy’.
He made the passionate appeal to the Director of Ghana Education Service (GES) Dr. Eric Nkansah and the Minister of Education (MoE) Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum to consider the introduction of a national agricultural week celebration in the basic schools level as they have done with the celebration for Inter Basic Schools Sports competition.
Mr. Agyiri expressed worry that agriculture is the backbone of the entire nation Ghana when it comes to economy.
He stated that agriculture must be given serious significant attention in all the levels of our education.
He expressed this concern during an interview with the media where he stressed that when a considerable attention is paid to inculcating the spirit of agriculture in the children at the very basic level, the children will develop passion for Agric through to the tertiary level and preferably attach agribusiness to whatever job the person does after university and the high rate of food importation will reduce drastically because Ghana will become a sufficient food producing country.
Show Boy therefore went further and mentioned that if the government had put proper mechanisms in place to boost the Agric sector, Ghana could have raised the $3billion from the Agric sector only, without going to IMF which has come with its own conditionality on the country.
