Expand Agric Faculty at KNUST — Dean
The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. Enoch Adjei Osekre, has appealed for support from stakeholders to expand the lecture theatre of the faculty to accommodate the increasing number of students.
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In addition, he said the library needed refurbishment to reflect the current trend in academia.
He said the current student population of the faculty was over 5,000 students, making it one of the largest faculties at the KNUST.
Appeal
Prof. Osekre, therefore, appealed to the private sector, alumni of the faculty and public-spirited organisations to come to the aid of the faculty to expand it to meet the needs of the students.
He made the call at the launch of the 70th anniversary celebration of the faculty on the theme: ‘Celebrating 70 Years of KNUST’s Global Impact in Agriculture.”
In addition to the expansion of the lecture hall and the upgrading of the library, he said the faculty intended to build a legacy project as part of the activities to mark its 70th anniversary.
The project, according to him, was estimated to cost about GHc 33 million and called on corporate entities to help the university to achieve its aim.
He said organisations could adopt aspects of the project and have them named after them.
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Contribution
Speaking at the launch, the former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Owusu Afriyie Akoto, commended the faculty for its enormous contribution to agricultural development in Ghana.
“The role of academic institutions such as the Faculty of Agriculture at KNUST is very crucial and, in this respect, the faculty is not disappointing.
It has made significant contributions in all strategic areas: human resource development, crop and livestock research, organising farmer groups and collaborating with national and international institutions in agriculture development,” he said.
Those interventions, he noted, had achieved results which called for celebration on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the faculty.
Development challenges
He said the country’s over-reliance on foreign debt to finance its development had been one of the major challenges facing the country as it was unable to raise enough foreign exchange from the export of its raw natural resources.
“This over-reliance stems from the fact the economy does not generate enough foreign exchange and domestic fiscal revenue to fund our economic development requirement,” he said.
Case for agriculture
Dr Akoto said there was enough evidence to support the fact that agriculture held the strongest potential to steer Ghana out of poverty “guarantee us food and nutritious security and also generate the necessary resources for the development of the agro sectors of our economy, including industry, education, health and infrastructure in the medium to long term.”
He said over the years, the performance of natural resources activities such mining, oil and gas have been below expectations.
Proposal
He proposed the creation of an Agricultural Management Team (AMT) under the leadership of the President in addition to the Economic Management Team which is chaired by the Vice-President to give the sector the needed attention to spearhead the socio-economic development of the country.
He said the AMT should comprise seven ministries, namely the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Finance, Trade and Industry, Lands and Natural Resources, Transportation, Local Government and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.