Ghana government and banks called upon to provide crop insurance for farmers
Professor John Asafu-Adjaye, a Senior Fellow, African Center for Economic Transformation, has appealed to government to consider introducing policies that would enable farmers to get insurance for their crops.
The Insurance will protect against either the loss of farmers’ crops to natural disasters, such as hail, drought, and floods, or the loss of revenue to declines in the prices of agricultural commodities.
He made the call when young farmers, especially females lamented over the challenges they faced in the value-chain with accessing credits, markets and lands at the “Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Annual Research and Learning Summit” organized by Camfed Ghana.
The Summit, in Accra, was on the theme: “Supporting Youth-led Enterprises in Agricultural Value Chains”.
Prof Asafu-Adjaye said many financial institutions were hesitant to insure crops due to some risks that might be attached to it.
He said it was, however, crucial that government played a pivotal role in making it possible especially to achieve the Paris Agreement and fight climate change.
Mr Rexford Akrong, a PhD Candidate, University of Cape Coast, presenting a study he conducted on: “Youth Agriculture in the horticulture value chain: the case of small scale mango farmers in southern Ghana,” said in Shai Osudoku, Yilo Krobo and Manya Krobo, mango production was male dominated and the situation was the same nationwide.
Moreover, small scale farmers accounted for 90 percent of total mangoes produced in Ghana.
He said whereas nearly all food crops produced in the country ended up in domestic low value markets, a significant proportion of cash crops such as mango produced were sold in both domestic and international high value markets.
Mr Akrong said the study also showed that young people could spiral growth in the sector as they were more educated, flexible and dynamic in
