The Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, says under his leadership, he will ensure that all secondary schools in the country establish farms.

According to him, this initiative will help boost the country’s agricultural sector by making use of the vital land resources that Ghana possesses.

In response to questions about how to strengthen the nation’s agriculture sector during his appearance before Parliament’s vetting committee on Monday, January 20, he said, “We are also going to encourage institutional farming.”

Under the institutional farming initiative, he explained, “Every secondary school in this country will be required to own a farm.”

He further mentioned that he would collaborate with the Ministry of Education to “recruit labourers for secondary schools to help them establish and maintain their farms.”

The MP for Asunafo South Constituency in the Bono Region added that the initiative would not only address the issue of inadequate food for secondary schools but also improve the quality of meals served to students.

“If nothing else, we can reduce the cost of school feeding and also enhance both the quality and quantity of the food provided to our students,” he said.

School farms were once common in Ghana but began to decline in the late 2000s as stakeholders and successive governments showed less interest in the concept.