The youth must be wooed to enter commercial farming, Justice Isaac Douse, a Former Appeals Court Judge has called on the government to provide land banks for people especially the youth desiring to go into commercial farming.
Justice Douse (rtd), who is also the Chief Technical Advisor of the Centre for Greater Impact Africa, made the call when he spoke on the topic ‘Domestication’ when the Centre took its turn at the Ghana News Agency Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue platform.
He noted that getting access to large arable lands for farming was a problem and therefore the government could acquire such lands and create land banks for people apply for, make profits, and pay royalties to the government.
He added that Ghana’s land tenure system was problematic making it difficult for people to have access to lands, while the available lands were also being used for residential purposes.
He suggested that apart from the land banks, there was the need for zoning of the lands according to the crops that thrived in a particular area; “if someone wants to invest in a particular crop such as maize, they would be directed to which lands area could support the cultivation of that crop.”
Justice Douse (rtd), who was also the Chairman of the Ghana@50 Commission, bemoaned the bad management of land in the country as he questioned the work been done by people trained in the land economy.
He said because of the importance of land, some countries such as Hong Kong, adopted a vertical building methodology instead of a horizontal system.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Tema Regional Manager, Ghana News Agency, said the Industrial News Hub Board Room dialogue was to offer state and non-state actors the opportunity to throw light on the economy from a non-political lens.
He said: “As journalists, we need to be well informed on issues before we can effectively educate the public.”
Mr Ameyibor added that as the fourth estate of the realm, there was the need for the GNA-Tema office to help the public to reach out to the government and people in authority with their issues while bringing the understanding of the government’s policy to the people.
He said, to this end, the office had initiated a few flagship programmes including the boardroom dialogue to provide a platform for state and non-state actors to interact and discuss national issues.
By Frank Atiase,GNA