There is no question about the fact that agriculture is the mainstay of Africa "s economy. This is seen in the light of the fact that the agriculture sector contributes about 30 t0 40 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) and engages more than 60 per cent of its workforce.
More so its role in ensuring food security and bringing hard earned foreign exchange through the export of agricultural produce such as cocoa, timber the likes cannot be underestimated.
Aside from these central and glaring roles that the sector plays in the African economy, the African farmer is not accorded the respect that he/she deserves in this land of our birth.
Farming and other activities associated with agriculture in Africa have been regarded by many as professions for the aged and illiterates who dwell in the rural areas.
It is regrettable that as a nation and in this 21st century such misconceptions and negative mindsets still exist in our minds.
Elsewhere in the world, people who engage in agricultural activities are revered and respected a lot for their contribution to the sustenance of humanity. And some of these countries include advanced nations such as the USA , Germany , and UK .
But painfully a growing concern which must be checked is the appalling attitude of the youth towards agriculture. It is an undisputable fact that the young and energetic people in Africa are always reluctant to engage in agriculture anytime the call has been made.
The reality of the matter is that many of the African youths rather prefer white-collar jobs to cultivating crops and rearing animals. There are even some who, because of the penchant to get rich quick, will venture into armed robbery, and other illegal and criminal activities.
Thank God that some African Countries have learnt lessons and have started to introduce policies to help the African youth engage in Agricultural activities and farming as a whole.
In Ghana for instance, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), under the National Youth and Employment Programme (NYEP), which was launched by His Excellency, President John Agyekum Kuffuor last year was, among other things, aimed at rekindling the interest and commitment of the youth in agriculture.
Under the NYEP, a wide array of attractive packages is outlined to ensure that the Ghanaian youth is well motivated to engage in agriculture activities. These include making large acres of land available, provision of credit facilities such as soft loans, farm inputs and more importantly training programmes in agricultural practices.
In fact, it should be stated that these are laudable initiatives employed by the government to revamp the agriculture sector which has for some years back been dominated largely by the aged. It is imperative that we all lend our support to these positive measures by the government to entice the youth into the country"s major sector-agriculture.
It was reported that the immediate past UN boss, Dr Busumuru Kofi Annan, has openly declared his intention to actively engage in farming. His primary concern is to ensure that Africa and for that matter Ghana has more than enough to feed its people. This is very refreshing, especially coming from a man of the caliber of Kofi Annan, who has enjoyed a lot of international fame and honour.
It is high time the youth in this country are made to actively engage in agricultural activities, as this will, no doubt, contribute immensely to ensuring an accelerated economic growth.
The packages for the youth under the NYEP is commendable, but it is equally important to note that the minds of the youth must be concretize to disabuse their perceptions of agriculture as an area for the aged and the illiterates.
Definitely this is achievable and would therefore take a lot of education from the government, the press both electronic and print, opinion leaders etc.
There is the urgent need to ensure that the sons and daughters of Africa have enough food to eat with excess to export to other nations.
This can be achieved if the growing youth of Africa take up agricultural activities such as farming, fishing, animal rearing and others.
This among other things will ensure that the unemployed youth will also get jobs which will bring down the level of the increasing rate of unemployment.
Professor Ernest Aryeetey, a renowned economist in Ghana , has stressed the need for African leaders to embark upon measures, which will modernize agriculture for accelerated growth. His contention was that Africa 's development targets will not come to fruition if pragmatic measures are not taken to modernize its system of agriculture.
I endorse this call by the renowned professor in the sense that it will not only help in quickening the development pace of this Africa , but it will also attract the youth more especially to take agriculture seriously.
The agriculture sector needs a total revolution and that will include the support and active roles of the African youth.
