Sefwi Wiawso hosts 30th Farmers Day
The 30th edition of the National Farmer’s Day celebration comes off at the Sefwi Wiawso College of Education park in the Western Region on Friday, December 5, 2014, where 70 farmers, including the national best, will be rewarded for their hard work.
The President, Mr John Mahama, is expected to grace the occasion, alongside members of government, Members of Parliament (MPs), traditional authorities, Members of the Council of State, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, the clergy and religious bodies, assembly members, political party representatives as well as representatives of civil society and non- governmental organisations, among other invited dignitaries.
Background
The National Farmer’s Day, which is celebrated every first Friday in the month of December, was instituted in 1985 by the Government of Ghana to honour the gallant farmers and fishermen of Ghana for their hard work.
Osino in the Eastern Region hosted the maiden edition of the event on Friday, December 5, 1985, where a bicycle was given as the highest prize. Currently, it is marked with a week-long celebration as compared to the first being a one-day event. Award winners now take home prizes such as a three-bedroom house, a double cabin air-conditioned pick-up and television sets, among other appetising prizes.
Observed as a statutory national holiday, the day is celebrated at districts, regional and national levels simultaneously each year.
Preparations/Theme
Feverish preparations are underway for this year's event which is on the theme, "Eat What We Grow," to emphasise the need to support and promote local food production for home consumption and export to improve on foreign exchange earnings and also enhance import bills.
The theme is again to stem the stress on the cedi against the major international currencies and to manage inflation and ensure macro stability.
The Western Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Alhaji A.R.Z. Salifu, says the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and the District Security Committee (DISEC), as well as the national planning committee, chaired by Mr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, the Deputy Minister of MoFA in charge of crops, who is also the MP for Mion, have visited the Sefwi Wiawso site for the function.
The team, which also included the Chief Director of the ministry, Mr Maurice Tanco Abisa Seidu, paid a courtesy call on the Omanhene of the area, Nana Okatakyie Kwasi Bumankama II, and his elders as a follow up to an official letter informing them of the holding of the event at the headquarters of his jurisdiction.
Farmers Selection/Accommodation
Already, selection of the distinguished farmers has been done by members of the accredited national committee who have gone round all the 10 regions, including the host, to pick the potential awardees. Hopefully, they will be sorted out and those to be finally selected would be appropriately rewarded.
For accommodation, the regional director said, "We have marshalled all the accommodation in Sefwi Wiawso, Sefwi Bekwai, Sefwi Anwhiaso, Juaboso and their environs as well as in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis for the awardees and other officials from Accra”.
Change of Style
Alhaji Salifu indicated that usually, the awardees are hosted in Accra, where they spend three days before being transported to the host region but this time around, they are arriving straight away in Sekondi-Takoradi, saying that, "The style has now changed for this 30th year celebration”.
The committee, after a careful study, noted that there were a replica of attractions in the metropolis, such as the power generation plant at Aboadzi, a harbour in Takoradi and the Western Regional House of Chiefs to host the award winners, adding that in Takoradi, they would even have a feel of the expansion works at the harbour and the Takoradi Naval base.
Farmer’s Forum
A farmers’ forum was held at the Akroma Plaza in Takoradi on Monday, December 1, 2014 after the arrival of the awardees in the metropolis on Sunday to usher in the event on December 5. On Tuesday, there was a sightseeing at the Naval base after interaction with members of the regional house of chiefs.
They also visited the Takoradi harbour and the Aboadzi Thermal Plant. Yesterday, the award winners made their way to Sefwi Wiawso, where they continued with their sightseeing visits and are expected to go through rehearsals for the big day tomorrow.
Award Categories
Apart from the traditional national best, first and second runner–ups and the national best fisherman, there will be the category for various crops and for enterprises too, including processing and agribusiness, best regional, agriculture extension officer and research institutions.
Such institutions provide appropriate technology for extension to farmers to improve on their technical knowhow, according to Alhaji Salifu. There will also be an award category for the physically challenged and some selected schools.
Transport/Security/Music
As early as 6:00 a.m, people should be finding their way to Sefwi Wiawso for the early commencement of the event. Buses have been arranged by the regional MoFA directorate to convey heads of department and other participants to and from the function.
The Western Regional Police Command has also been contacted to make the necessary security arrangement towards the successful hosting of the day in the region and additionally tasked to make available the regional police band to provide music at the grounds.
Gingles/Live Coverage
Attractive jingles, Alhaji Salifu said, had been prepared and are playing around while radio talk shows had also been organised to inform the people and also ensure a high turnout at the event.
Some of the radio and television stations are expected to hold live coverage and beam the event live for the benefit of those who cannot make it to Sefwi Wiawso.
