A process to effect the manufacture of agricultural machinery and equipment locally is to begin this year. Consequently, the government is fashioning an industrial policy that would spell out the guidelines for the manufacture of the machinery. The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr John Gyetuah, said the industrial policy, which would be ready by June, this year, would also ensure that agricultural produce fed directly into local industry. He was speaking in Accra at the launch of a report on “Agriculture budget tracking: Investing in smallholder agriculture for optimal results; The ultimate policy choice for Ghana" conducted by SEND-Ghana, a civil society organisation. Mr Gyetuah said the government was also reviewing several policies to achieve value addition in the agricultural sector. He; therefore, asked agricultural producers and employers in agricultural enterprises to support the government's effort at developing the agricultural sector. According to the report, only 16 per cent of smallholder farmers had access to financial credit in 2008, and indicated that there were disparities in access to credit at the regional and district levels. "On the source of financial services, smallholder farmers largely rely on informal arrangements to obtain credit from family members, friends and money lenders. Farmers' inability to obtain credit is attributable to high interest and cumbersome application procedures," it said. The study said since 2003, the Government of Ghana had systematically increased budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector and that in 2008 the budgetary allocation rose above the 10 per cent required by the Maputo Declaration. It, however, asked AU and NEPAD to revise the minimum threshold of 10 per cent allocation to ensure that additional quantum of funds is provided as direct investment funds to support agricultural development. A lecturer at the Department of Agriculture of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. Ramatu Alhassan, who launched the report urged spending agencies to improve on their data recording and management systems to allow use of data for monitoring the implementation and impact of policies and strategies. The Country Director of SEND-Ghana, Mr Samuel Zan Akolgo, said the report would give policy makers a sober reflection on how agricultural policy had fared so far in Ghana. He said the aim of SEND-Ghana was to influence the country's agricultural policy "so that it truly guarantees food sovereignty and security to the people of Ghana". The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Poverty Reduction, Mr Clement Kofi Kumado, said Parliament would continue to support efforts at improving the lot of stakeholder farmers. Source: Daily Graphic