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Mensa Otabil joins calls for the mechanization of agriculture |
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The Head Pastor of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) says the key to self-sufficiency in food production is mechanization of agriculture and not huge numbers of people.
Speaking at the grande finale of the Springboard 2010 motivational seminar series, Pastor Mensa Otabil said what the sector needs now is more mechanization as there are too many people already involved in agriculture.
“Agriculture is not determined by the volume of people doing it; it is the efficiency of the technology being used. In other countries, 2 percent are in the total agric sector from farming to food processing to conservation to everything. Here it is 60 percent,” Dr Otabil said.
Whilst the 2 percent elsewhere are able to feed their nation with reserves for the next 20 years, the 60 percent in Ghana have still been deemed not to be adequate as government after government keep urging the youth to enter into agriculture, Pastor Otabil said.
“Its not a man-power volume we need; its new concepts, new ideas – how to generate more from one acre of land, how to preserve your farm products and use machines,” Pastor Otabil related.
This year’s edition of the annual event is said to have attracted some 15,000 participants nationwide.
Chief Executive of Legacy and Legacy – organizers of the event – Albert Ocran said the programme has been worthwhile.
“These people are going to enjoy a better quality of life with as a result of the interactions they’ve had with these great minds,” he said of the participants who were exposed to the tutorship of motivational speakers including Ken Ofori Atta and Pastor Otabil.
Some of the participants who shared their impressions with Joy News said they had been reinvigorated.
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