A four-member Agriculture Management Team has been inaugurated today by the Krachi East Municipal Chief Executive, Honourable Patrick Jilimah on behalf of the Minister of Food and Agriculture.
In his inaugural speech, he stated that the Ghana Statistical Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other partners with technical support from the Food and Agriculture [ads1]Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, is in the process of conducting a Census of Agriculture in Ghana.
“A Census of Agriculture is a statistical operation covering the whole world and allow for the collection, processing, publishing and dissemination of information on the structure of Agriculture and the state of development of the rural areas. Data will be collected directly from households and some institutions on their agricultural activities including crop farming, tree planting, aquaculture or fish farming and livestock rearing and also on fishing which is important Agriculture related activity in Ghana. Information will also be collected from communities mainly on the geography, availability of basic facilities, social – economic conditions, transport information, availability of community services, potentials for development and constraints to development.” The DCE explains
He added that, the overall objective of the Ghana Census of Agriculture GCA is to produce and disseminate complete a reliable agriculture data to meet the need of policy makers and other users to support informed decision making. The data will also be useful for monitoring development programmes aimed at further developing agriculture and the rural areas.
According to him, the GCA will specifically provide information on the rural sector and the structure of agriculture including:
i .number of holders and sizes of holdings and their distribution across the country,
ii .the level of equipment and technology use ,
iii .human resource availability,
iv. land tenure systems of agricultural holdings ,
V .food security, and sustainable agriculture among others.
The District Management Team (DMT), which is the highest decision making a body of the DA in the District and shall have the following responsibility:
i. Be responsible for coordination and implementation of the census of Agriculture project in the District.
ii .Ensure the provision of facilities for all activities of the census of agriculture operations,
iii .Ensure that effective education and publicity of the census of Agriculture is carried out in the District ,
iv .Ensure that the project activities are carried out in the District on schedule ,
V. Resolve all problems relating to the census of Agriculture operations in the district, and
Vi. Facilitate information sharing and dissemination of results in the district.
The District Team members are The District Coordinating Director, Mr. Fred Akowuah; the District Director of Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Emmanuel Otu; the District Planning Officer, Mr. Abass Ibrahim and the District Information Officer.
Source: AwakeAfrica.com | Christiana Ativi, Dambai