An agribusiness consultant and Chairman, Sakfos Holdings Ltd, has indicated that the absence of investment by rich Ghanaians in the country’s agriculture sector does not augur well for economic development.

Speaking on the Super Morning Show on Thursday, June 2, Dr. Abu Sakara asserted that, it is very problematic if the rich men in the country do not want to venture into the agriculture sector.

“Who are the rich people in Ghana? Are they in Agriculture?” “So when you have a country where the rich people are not in the agricultural business, then we have a problem.

Dr. Sakara explained that the rich people would not want to venture into agriculture because they have efficiently analyzed the financial prospects of the sector and realized they would not get the necessary returns on their investment.

He emphasized that the ratio of small to commercial scale farmers in the country has always been in favor of small-scale farmers, indicating that there are many small-scale farmers compared to commercial farmers and for that matter, most of the agricultural interventions have been targeted at small scale farmers.

He therefore called for a conscious effort to put steps in place to empower medium to large-scale farmers.

“There is the need for the nation to strategically position itself in order to increase the number of medium to large scale farmers as an anchor of a certain known acreage of production and higher productivity”, he added

Dr. Sakara later called for a national support system that is designed to enhance the competitiveness of domestic farmers in the global market, systems involving the cost of financing, cost of fuel and energy, trade policies, and how to effectively access market.

He said a well-balanced synchronization of these systems can make the domestic farmer more competitive in the international market.