CPP targets Agric to Surpass Middle-Income by 2015

For Ghana to hit the target of exceeding a middle-income status by the end of 2015 there is the need for the nation’s economy to grow between 10-12 per cent, according to the Convention People’s Party (CPP).

Agriculture, the party disclosed, would need to keep pace with the economic growth rate by growing from 8 to 10 per cent and not at 6 per cent that the sector is currently experiencing.

CPP made the observation at a press conference dubbed: ‘How CPP Will Do It’ in Kumasi last week.
The party’s interaction with journalists bothered on various sectors of the economy, revealing how they would effectively remove the bottlenecks facing the Ghanaian economy, when given the mandate in 2012.

The party’s hierarchy also seized the opportunity to speak on several issues of national importance.
National Chairman of the party, Ladi Nylander, who addressed journalists, noted that the CPP would allocate more than 15 per cent of the nation’s budget to agriculture to ensure that at least 8 per cent growth rate in the sector is achieved.

He explained that the district assemblies would also receive “consolidated multi-sectoral budgets” and would ensure that district chief executives are elected rather than appointed by the presidents.

Touching on the failures of the Mills led-administration and the erstwhile NPP government, he disclosed that the CPP, when given the nod in 2012, will identify and initiate state-sponsored co-investments, especially in the private sector.

“This may include jute bags for cocoa and bulk food handling; expand rice cultivation by 200,000 hectares; expand legumes cultivation; and, support the association of seed growers to scale up seed production,” he said.

Against that background, he added that the CPP would take a second look at the agricultural sector to make it lucrative to the youth of the country.