The Indian government has granted to Ghana, a credit line of $ 150 million to support the implementation of an Agricultural Mechanisation Service Centre (AMSEC) projects intended to provide farmers all over the country with affordable and timely access to farm power machinery.
Through this centre, farm growers will have access to tools such as drills, sprayers or combine harvesters. The objective of this initiative is to eventually increase the tractor ratio per farmer in the country, which is still very low.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark India’s 66th Republic Day, Ghana’s Interior Minister Mark Owen Woyongo said that India has also provided another $30 million line of credit to be used for the rehabilitation and upgrade of drinking water supply network in Yendi, a city located in the upper region of the country.
“India continues to provide assistance to Ghana through various bilateral and multilateral programmes,” he said, and listed these to include the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) and the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan.
“Under these programmes, emphasis is placed on human resource development in areas such as information, communication and technology, food processing, biotechnology, entrepreneurship development and tool designing,” Woyongo added.
India’s high commissioner to Ghana, Jeeva Sagar, said that the relationship between Ghana and India finds it roots to historical times. He said that India would remain committed to help Ghana achieve better growth and progress, laying emphasis on touching lives rather than putting a value on the amount of funding offered.
The support of India to Ghanaian agriculture is mainly due to the strategic position of this sector, which employs 60% of the labor force and generates 22% of GDP in the economy.