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Company News of Friday, June 14, 2019
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2019-06-14
Dr. John Kofi Mensah
The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) is restructuring its operations to refocus on financing agriculture, said Bank Chief Executive John Kofi Mensah.
He added that the bank had expanded its agriculture department into a division of the agricultural sector, headed by a general manager, and that it had also been decentralized with specialized agents in the agricultural sector. agriculture in some branches of the country.
"The agri-food division has been divided into agricultural value chain and agricultural services departments, which encompbades all sectors of agriculture.
The department is available to facilitate lending and provide advisory services to clients in the fields of crops, livestock, poultry, sea, cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruits and other products. export, "said Dr. Mensah.
Speaking in front of the Daily Graphic at a ceremony in Accra last Wednesday, a check for 480,000 GH ¢ was awarded to the best national farmer 2018, Mr. James Obeng Boateng, while his prize was in cash said Dr. Mensah that the bank had also raised loan tracking and the Department of Collections to a division, also headed by a general manager, to strengthen loan tracking.
refocusing
The AfDB chief said that until the end of 2017, the bank was focusing on agriculture but since then, "the AfDB has repositioned itself to be more receptive to supporting agriculture in the region. country".
He explained that, on an initial loan portfolio of 20% for the agricultural sector, the bank could now avail a loan portfolio of 50% for the sector.
"What we need to do, is expand the department, and that's why we went from one department to one division. The direction taken by the bank therefore means that we are refocusing on agriculture, as stipulated in our core mandate, "he explained.
Farmer Sponsorship Day
Dr. Mensah announced that, until now, the bank had spent $ 1.8 million as the main sponsor of the National Farmers Day celebrations over the past 15 years.
The amount, he explained, was invested in the construction of 15 two-bedroom houses in various locations of Greater Accra, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions.
He added that this amount excluded the sponsorship of the National Farmers Forum and the welcome badtail.
Until 2018, the National Best Farmer had the opportunity to decide on the area in which a house should be built, but the formula changed last year when it was decided that the winner should determine the type of use of the price.
Business Proposal
In view of this, Mr. Boateng, the recipient of the award in 2018, proposed to the bank to allocate some of this money for the improvement of his 1,000-acre farm located in Nyinase, near Nkoranza, in the region of Bono-Est. to build a two-bedroom farm, purchase a tractor and four polytanks and dig four mechanized drill holes.
He also plans to employ 30 more people, clear five acres of land with bulldozers, buy seeds, feed and medicines, buy tricycles and repair access roads to his farm.
Speaking about his contribution to his community as the best national farmer, Mr. Boateng said that he had been able to pressure the government to build a block of three clbadrooms on his farm for the children of the community and the farm workers.
The best farmer of 2018 said that he had managed to entice some high-level people to develop an interest in agriculture, adding that his success had had a positive impact on people.
Mr Boateng felt that he had become an advocate for agriculture and pledged to continue in this direction, even after his tenure as the best national farmer.
In response, Dr. Mensah commended Mr. Boateng for focusing on activities that would benefit not only his farm but also the community in which he operated and committed to support the bank's commitment to supporting the celebration of Farmers' Day to ensure food sufficiency, as well as ensuring that the agricultural sector remains the backbone of the national economy.
He called on farmers and fishermen to visit one of the 81 ADB sites in the country and "engage our dedicated staff to obtain additional information on our agricultural offers".
Innovation
On his side, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said he is happy that the prize money is invested in other areas. beneficial for a whole community.
He asked the main sponsors to take a fresh look at the package, so that "in future awards, we would have made progress in this way by trying to create a situation in which the winner will badume strong leadership in the community" .
Akoto urged the AfDB to look into the initial objectives for which the bank was created to help the agricultural sector reach the level envisaged.
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