Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has urged a national shift in attitudes toward agriculture, particularly among the youth, stating that outdated perceptions are deterring young Ghanaians from entering a sector critical to the country's economic future.
Speaking at Channel One TV's AgriFair at the Efua Sutherland Park in Accra on Saturday June 21, he said many young people associate agriculture with punishment or low status due to their early experiences in school, where weeding is often used as a disciplinary tool. "To most of our youth, they see agriculture as a profession belonging to those neglected by society and old people," he said. "When a student breaches school regulations, he is assigned a portion of land to weed.
So growing up, they think weeding is a form of punishment." He emphasised that this perception is misleading and damaging, noting that agriculture is, in fact, the foundation of wealth for many of Ghana's most prominent figures. "All the big people you see around-the rich people in this country-are farmers," Opoku said. "The President of the Republic is a farmer.
Ibrahim Mahama is a farmer.
