The Chairman of Competitive African Rice Platform, Ghana Chapter has called on government and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to engage stakeholders in the production industry.

This, according to him, is because the banks are not helping the local industry to pick up in production although the local industries also invest in the banks.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Yaw Adu Poku noted that the banks are only interested in bonds and instruments.

He went on to say that if government “could put in 45 billion cedis for the banks to go and buy bonds and instruments from for the government, why can’t the government also say let me do a marshall plan in agriculture because we are interlinked.”

“We have been over the years telling government that the policies are wrong. If they are a listening government, whether NPP or NDC, they will look down there on the streets and then they will find the solutions. This is what they are not doing,” he added.

He, therefore, urged both entities – government, and BoG - to engage the stakeholders in the country since they also have the aim of reducing unemployment.

“What I am thinking is that government and the BoG should sit down with the stakeholders in the country. We are looking at employing over 250,000 youth into the economy. They will also be paying taxes.”

He also urged government to invest in the agriculture sector.