The Ministry of Food and Agricul­ture in Accra on Tuesday presented a total of 100,000 starter packs to the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to be distributed to farmers under the Youth in Agriculture for Sus­tainable Employment programme.

This, according to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Bryan Acheampong, would make agricul­ture attractive to young people by removing the drudgery associated with the sector.

The starter pack included spraying machines, Power tillers, wellington boots, overall coats, goggles, gloves, and cutlasses for menial works.

Presenting the items, the Minis­ter stated that the donation formed part of the government's commit­ment to make agriculture attractive to young people so they could venture into agriculture.

This, he said, would help reduce the rate of unemployment among the youth and increase food pro­duction in the country.

Dr Acheampong further noted that the ministry would make other mechanisation equipment such as planters, harvesters, and other Agricultural machinery available for the young farmers at the district level in order to support young people interested in agriculture. "This is to our commitment to bringing a lot of young people into agriculture sector and also helping to remove the drudgery in the sec­tor for the young people who only see farming as a hoe and cutlass business.

The ministry will continue to support young people in the sector in any way possible to boost em­ployment, and increase the coun­try's levels of food self-sufficiency and security," he said.

Receiving the items at the Agri­cultural and Engineering Services Directorate, the Chief Executive Officer of the YEA, Mr Kofi Baah Agyepong, expressed gratitude to the sector minister for his support to young farmers as it would go a long way to motivate and skill them up. "We think this is very timely as it would go a long way to support the young farmers.

This shows how important this government takes agriculture," he emphasised.

He said that there were extensive preparations to begin planting on farmlands in Agogo and Wenchi, where the YEA had received assis­tance from the ministry in mecha­nising those farmlands.

The Youth in Agriculture for Sustainable Employment pro­gramme is designed to provide jobs for young people and is projected to produce roughly 200,000 jobs nationwide.  BY CECILIA LAGBA YADA