MASO is a five year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
The Board chair of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Prof Stephen Adei has encouraged the government to make funding available for young people, especially those who want to go into agriculture professionally.
Prof. Adei who was addressing a Solidaridad and MasterCard funded ‘Maso Youth in Cocoa Conference’ in Ho in the Volta Region said considering the contribution of agriculture to the country’s GDP, the government will have to “put its money where its mouth is”.
“I want to propose one billion cedis youth agricultural fund. Yes, we can, given that we have spent about GHc20 billion on the non-performing financial institutions recently. The fund can be disbursed through our rural bank network at an interest rate of not more 10%. COCOBOD and the Government should consider this as the best way to help the industry, the youth and Ghana,” he said.
Prof Adei also said there is the need for Insurance for farmers especially cocoa Famers “so if they lose their farms, they will not run down to ground zero”.
He chided the youth not to expend revenues accrued from their farm businesses hastily saying “It takes some years to reap the full benefit. I charge you to be frugal in your expenditure if you want to be successful in Agriculture”.
Program Director for MASO, Fred Frimpong in a Citi News interview said the call by the GRA board chair is “exactly what the majority of the youth need” as a support base to go into agriculture.
Fred Frimpong addressing the conference
MASO is a five-year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
It is implemented by five consortium members made up of Solidaridad, Aflatoun, Ashesi University, Fidelity Bank and the Ghana Cocoa Board.
A beneficiary of the Maso programme, Mawuse Adzo Hotor who was a pupil-teacher in Accra after her senior high school education said she once chanced on the MASO team sensitizing the youth in Akome, her village community and reluctantly decided to enrol upon advice from her mother.
Mawuse says she currently owns a 2.5-acre cocoa farm with support from MASO and has also had two international travel experiences already.
Prof. Stephen Adei was full of praise for the MASO team for identifying a gap in the employment of Ghanaian youth and also finding the “most sustainable and sustainable” means of closing the unemployment gap in the Country.
He called on other organizations to take interest in supporting agriculture as a sustainable source of livelihood.
Source: Benjamin Aklama | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
