Prioritize agriculture, financial institutions told

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=331810 1/2 Business News of Friday, 24 October 2014 Source: GNA Reading the article in the link above I got the sense that in Ghana our Financial institutions will not, cannot, should not be made to invest in the AGRICULTURE SECTOR UNLESS GOVT or some INDEPENDENT BODY GIVES THEM SOME MONEY(NOT THEIR OWN) TO LOAN OUT TO FARMERS. Why will they ever risk their investments in Agriculture? Listen to what my interaction over the years with some Banks(safer not to mention their names) say..Agriculture is too risk as it is too dependent on rainfall and therefore too much uncertainty and now there is also the looming danger of CLIMATE CHANGE that is affecting everything in farming, others say.... farmers do not pay back their loans, others say why give it to farmers when traders can turn around the money in a relatively short time etc...and most of these reasons are truths. But there are so many more reasons why the banks will not bother with agriculture when its easy to just buy treasury bills or loan it to commercial traders. and make much more in their annual turnover The question I often ask then is.... which Bank in Ghana will give any money as start-ups to young people who have no collateral( not even farm lands will be accepted), who will readily take a chance on a farmer who possible is an illiterate, has no Technical know-how or knows nothing about new and modern technology on how farming is being done in the more developed countries. The answer is simple and clear...No One and No Bank!. The banks will only begin to talk to you when they see your fat bank account and usually it is those who are exporting produce or the Agro processing industries who add value to the produce they buy from the farmer or a foreign company that has brought in its own capital and successful managed to make its agro bussiness prosperous . The farmer who is the primary producer usually bears the most risk and he is the one that needs more support but they are the ones who are usually being ignored and being left to fend for themselves. Naturally the older farmers are the ones fading out or slowly dying off. There is going to be a generation gap and in the near future the risk of food insecurity if the Govt does not begin to show real steps in managing the agriculture sector in the country. I also often ask myself...Do we have a ministry that is actually working to improve the work of the farmer and also ensure that what they do is sustainable....Do the work with the farmer at heart or are they just more interested in their workshops and per diems? I have been working in this sector for a while now and I am as lost now as I was 10years ago. Wyy will I then encourage the people ( mostly the younger ones) who keep asking me and showing the interest in participating in the seemingly booming sector because of all the BIG TALK and empty promises when I cannot boast of any profits myself? Having mere passion is not ENOUGH!!!!MERE statements being made by those in power and policy makers is not enough!!! GHAna is at the cross roads and I am not afraid to say it.....Yes!!!!!.... Agriculture and farming for that matter is at High Risk!!! and is failing But just take a minute and ask yourself so who are the people who do it and where do you get the food you eat everyday from? How long can we as a country, ignore the unprofessional and amateurish way Agric is being done in the country. I just do not get it. ADB the bank mandated to help farmers in my opinion should have been sold long ago because it is irrelevant in its own mandated agenda. WHen you speak to some of them they will tell you it is not their fault as the Govt expects to be paid dividends at the end of the month, Their own people will tell you ..we cannot give out loans to farmers at rates any lower than other banks as we must make a profit. so they end up giving more loans to traders and commercial people than the farmers who need the money to help them improve, expand or grow their businesses. My farming business has saved with ADB for the past 10years and I don't have a relationship officer, I have never been approached if I want a loan, they have never even asked me how my business is doing. But I bet if I was exporting and had a fat account they would have paid attention to me and this validates the very point i made earlier on. The banks are simply not interested in nurturing you to grow unless they see you are already making it The Govt or politician is not interested in really solving the problems of farmers or truly help them develop..they are only interested in the politics of the game...when we came into power we did a,b,c whether it worked or failed they introduced something and spent so much.( meanwhile whatever they spend ends up in their own pockets). ARe we for REAL!!! DO they see how it is being done in other countries and the massive investments being poured into the sector? To me, the Development partners are no better...they send in their own people and they come here to do so many projects that die off without any real success.... A typical case is all the investments that have been made and continue to be made up in Northern Ghana. What do we have to show for it? I am sick of it!!! Its about time they become bold to stop giving money to ruling Govts who clain they have their own agenda for the Agric sector. Everyone keeps talking about the fact that Ghana needs an Agric Revolution to change our fortunes..I say we need a revolutionary, visionary who can be bold enough to invest properly in the sector and stop all this nonsense of trying to start all sort of schemes in farming for the rural poor that do not work. Ghana does not have to re-invent the wheel. It Is been done in many parts of Africa in countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana etc. Our so called leaders must stop wasting our money and our time and get their hands dirty and stop sitting in Accra with all the talk shops. They must give money to some of the banks who have already dared use their own capital and venture into supporting Agriculture. They must give money to some of our National best farmers and help them expand what has already made them achievers. Today many of our farming lands are being destroyed or giving way to real estate developers and gold miners (Galamsey etc.) and we look on. some of our same leaders are the very people giving away the concessions because they get their cut. SHAME ON YOU!!!! A farmer stels a goat and he serves in prison. The same thief called a politician is made to go home with his spoils and nothing happens. THIEFS...if you ask me most our leaders are plain thiefs, they keep stealing our money because nothing will ever happen to them. FIRE BURN YOU ALL!!!!! http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=331810 Prioritize agriculture, financial institutions told Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri II, Omanhene of Sunyani Traditional Council on Wednesday advised financial institutions to prioritize agriculture to help improve food production. This, he explained could be achieved if financial institutions designed excellent banking packages that would benefit the rural poor to go into commercial farming. Nana Nkrawiri II gave the advice at the official launch of the universal status of the GN Bank (formerly First National Bank) in Sunyani. The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has granted the GN Bank a universal license, to operate banking services across the length and breadth of the country and outside as well. Nana Nkrawiri II noted that the country’s economy thrived on agriculture, and if financial institutions placed premium on that sector, it would not only reduce poverty, but enhanced national food security. He said the influx of banking institutions in Sunyani and parts of the Brong-Ahafo Region, was a good sign of development, but added that the industry would progress if it provided excellent customer services. Though the BOG has granted it a universal license, the GN Bank would continue to be a national bank for the ordinary person, providing close-to-client banking service to customers, Mr Charles Nimako, Director of the Bank said. He expressed appreciation about the supervisory role of the BOG and assured customers that the bank would continue to operate within the guidelines of the central bank to protect the interest of customers. Mr Nimako said the GN Bank was fully owned and managed by Ghanaians and would soon open up ownership for interested Ghanaian investors and customers. Mr Henry Lamptey, General Manager, Corporate Banking of the GN Bank, emphasized that the bank had not been sold except that it had changed its name. 0/26/2014 Prioritize agriculture, financial institutions told | Business News 2014-10-24 http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=331810 2/2 Sponsored Links by Taboola He assured customers of highest standard of integrity, loyalty and absolute honesty by aiming to become the “best big bank” by the end of 2015. “In line with corporate mission we do not intend to metamorphose into a high street bank but to remain the people bank,” Mr Lamptey said.