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The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the sad state of affairs in which Ghana finds herself in, under the leadership of President John Mahama, is evident in the rapid decline of the agricultural sector over the last 8 years.

With some 60% of the Ghanaian population engaged in agriculture, Nana Akufo-Addo stated that the Mahama government has allocated only 1% of government expenditure on the agricultural sector, whereas, in 2008, when the NPP government was leaving office, 4% of government expenditure was dedicated to agriculture.

This, Nana Akufo-Addo explained, accounts for the reason why the growth rate in this critical sector has slumped from 7.4% at the end of 2008, under President Kufuor, to a little over 2% in 2016, under President Mahama.

According to the 2016 budget presented to parliament, GH¢501.5 million was allocated to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture by the Mahama government, out of a total budgeted expenditure of GH¢43.5 billion. The allocation to the Ministry, under President Mahama, for 2016, represents some 1.2% of government expenditure.

“Agriculture is in sharp decline under Mahama, and has resulted in untold suffering for farmers across the country. When given the opportunity in this year’s elections, we (in the NPP) will increase the budgetary allocation of agriculture to at least 4%, akin to what prevailed under President Kufuor,” he said.

Increasing the budgetary allocation to agriculture, the NPP flagbearer explained, is a commitment he intends to keep, when he is entrusted with the mandate in this year’s elections, stressing that “that is the way we can hire more extension officers and establish agricultural mechanization centers to help the farmers. We intend to take the development of our agriculture seriously, and not pay lip service to it.”

Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing a mini durbar comprising 57 chiefs in the Nkwanta South constituency, on Wednesday, October 26, 2016, during his tour of the constituency, as part of his 5-day tour of the Volta Region.

He assured the Chiefs and people of Nkwanta South that, “you were witnesses to the development and the improvement in the livelihoods of citizens under President Kufuor. I, also, intend going down the same path so as to return this country onto the path of progress and prosperity.