Mboma John is a nurse and unionist. He is the Chairman of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Nandom Branch. The 37-year-old professional nurse won the Best Youth Farmer of the Year award for DBI. With DBI being one of the hubs of agriculture in Ghana, it is not surprising that many youths are gaining interest in farming. It also shows that being a nurse is not an excuse for one who wants to find another source of income. To John, he says his main reason for going into farming is to feed the needy and find another source of income to complement his income. Farming has now gone beyond hand to mouth. It is a business proving worthy of investment.
I believe the introduction of the government's policy, 'Feed Ghana Program', and the establishment of farm service centers is going to radically transform agriculture. When farmers have access to tractor services, combine harvesters, storage facilities, and low or subsidized inputs, we may experience a tsunamic agricultural revolution, that will not only ensure food security, create jobs, and ameliorate poverty, but it would also place us in a better position to export more, reducing the ritual of excessive import of foreign agricultural produce. It is obviously the panacea to the chronic cedi and volatile cedi performance against foreign currencies.
As John celebrates with his new Tricycle and his bragging right as a youth farmer, let the youth in the constituency aspire to break his record and elevate the bar. We are told this award category has come to stay, so put much effort into winning this and many other awards and recognition.
I wish to congratulate Mr. John K, popularly called Mboma, on this achievement. The award should be seen as an honour and a burden. It is an honour that offers you recognition everywhere in the country, drawing you closer to new knowledge and opportunities. It is also a burden in the fact that you must prove and defend that you deserve the award and other higher ones going into the future. You must double your personal effort and additionally serve as a voluntary youth ambassador for agricultural transformation in Daffiama, Bussie, Issa, and Upper West at large.
The potential for agricultural transformation is huge. I wish to see more private investment with the support of the government. I wish to see recognized market agencies, corporate investment, agribusiness along the entire value chain, and above all, I wish to see agric consultants offering technical support to improve agricultural practices.
The ritual of bush burning every now and then must equally be looked at! The indiscriminate bush burning presents a danger to farmers and investors. Quite recently, there have been reported cases of fire ravaging farm produce. This does not offer investment security!
Denis Andaban
The Village Boy From DBI
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