President John Dramani Mahama has hailed Eric Opoku, the Food and Agriculture Minister, as one of the best Ministers of Agriculture in the history of Ghana.

He made the commendation during the launch of a new vegetable development project under the national agricultural strategy at Atukum in the Asunafo South District, and the groundbreaking ceremony for a chicken and meat processing centre at Bechem in the Ahafo Region.

Speaking at the event, President Mahama underscored the fresh vegetable drive as a key step toward improving food security, reducing import dependence, and empowering smallholder and subsistence farmers across the country.

Mr Eric Opoku, who is also the Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, has been steering major interventions by launching the Feed Ghana Programme in April this year, designed to transform the agricultural sector, boost domestic food production, stabilise food prices, create jobs and supply raw materials for agro-industries.

Under the programme, the Ministry rolled out the YƐREDUA Vegetable Development Project, promoting vegetable cultivation through greenhouse farming, irrigation-supported open field cultivations, and support for the urban, peri-urban and rural farmers.

Nationwide vegetable nurseries are being established to give families easy access to quality seedlings, encouraging home gardening a household-level food production.

In the poultry subsector, Mr Opoku has spearheaded a broad revitalisation effort, including the Nkoko Nketenkete Programme, a backyard poultry initiative targeting women and youth and a “Farm to Table” framework supporting large and medium-scale poultry farmers.

The Ministry has distributed birds to thousands of households and is scaling up domestic poultry production to reduce Ghana’s reliance on imported poultry products.

As part of the revitalisation, a state-of-the-art soya processing plant is being set up in the North to provide a reliable market for soybean farmers and feed into poultry feed value chains.

The Feed Ghana programme has also seen expanded irrigation infrastructure, rehabilitation of dams and support for institutional farming covering schools, security agencies, religious institutions, and youth to boost production of staples, vegetables and livestock while curbing postharvest losses.

At the Bechem groundbreaking, President Mahama broke ground for the construction of a chicken and meat processing centre, championed by Minister Opoku as a cornerstone of Ghana’s poultry value chain development and local meat processing.

The public noted that the new vegetable push and renewed investment in poultry and agro-processing position Ghana for long-term food self-sufficiency and economic transformation, recasting agriculture from subsistence-level production to a diversified, agro-industrial sector with emphasis on food security, import substitution, rural livelihoods, and value chain development.