GHANA Agricultural Producers and Traders’ Organisation (GAPTO), a leading advocate in the agriculture sector has called for pragmatic policies and stakeholders engagement to help improve access to funding to operators in the agricultural sector.
The group is further challenging private sector to play a more significant role in providing financial services within the agricultural sector.
Again, GAPTO is seeking collaboration with insurance companies in order to come up with innovative Agric Insurance products for players in the agric sector.
GAPTO in collaboration with Business Sector Advocacy Challenge, (BUSAC) Fund has to this effect organized a workshop for stakeholder engagements under the theme:‘how to improve access to funding to operators in the agricultural sector.’
The workshop brought together representatives and leaders of small holder farmer groups nationwide as well as government and relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to discuss policy recommendations, and agreement reached on the way forward to remove barriers to access to funding of agriculture activities.
The objectives of the training programme among others was to equip and support members of GAPTO in effective advocacy skills to enable them influence the policy and action of those in the public sector (Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies) members of GAPTO will have a better understanding of business sector advocacy, the processes involved in influencing decision making and its implications for the associations.
Alhaji Haruna Agesheka, the Secretary General of the GAPTO proposed that financial institutions should collaborate with government to find out how some of these risks could be minimized and mitigated, as this will make lending to farmers in particular more attractive to the various banks within the country.
Financial products should be designed specifically for those within the agricultural sector, he stated.
The agriculture sector employs about 60 percent direct and indirectly of the total work force in the country and about 25% to the country’s gross domestic products (GDP), the sector also provides the bulk of raw materials to industry, and it is the main sector that can guarantee the country’s food security.
African Eye News
