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Flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo said his party in government in 2017 will revive the agricultural sector in order to make meaningful impact in the lives of its people.
An Akufo-Addo government, he said will reverse the decline in the country’s support for agriculture, which has been one of the greatest deficiencies of the Mahama-led administration.
Read more: Agriculture sector will be my priority - Nana Addo
He made the assurance when he met cashew farmers in the Jaman North constituency, in the Brong Ahafo Region, on Friday, March 19, 2016, campaigning ahead of this year's election.
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His comments follows recent ban on cashew to foreign markets by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.
Tons of cashew nuts are getting rotten in the Brong Ahafo Region as cashew buyers are unable to export nuts to foreign markets due to an export ban placed on the commodity by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI).
The ban was enforced as part of measures to improve local processing of cashew which is expected to create jobs and add value to agricultural products before exports.
However, buyers of the produce say, out of the 950,000 bags of cashew produced in the country, factories in the country have the capacity to process only 35,000 bags of cashew leaving over 900,000 bags worth millions of cedis to rot.
But Nana Addo speaking to the farmers said, "I assured the people, who are mainly cashew farmers, that the revival of Ghana’s declining agricultural sector will be a major area of priority under an Akufo-Addo government, God-willing from January 2017. If we are to make any meaningful change in the lives of the people, our efforts must be directed at this sector. The majority of people can only feel a change in their lives when we develop agriculture."