The government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is procuring 540 motorbikes to facilitate Agricultural Extension Agents (AEA) mobility.
Mr Eric Opoku, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, said 150 of these motorbikes were distributed on Tuesday, 22nd July 2025.
He said a total of 400 AEAs were being recruited as Feed Ghana Coordinators for all districts, and that their motorbikes were almost ready for deployment.
“It is our hope that the Ghana Food Brigade will be launched before the end of December this year,” Mr Opoku stated on Monday, when he took his turn at the Presidency Communications Bureau’s meeting the Press Accountability Series, held at the Presidency in Accra.
As part of efforts to strengthen the Frontline of Knowledge Transfer to Agricultural Extension Officers, Mr Opoku said the role of Agricultural Extension Officers could not be overemphasised. Adding that they were the bridge between research and farming practices — bringing innovation and science to the farm gate.
“However, the current Extension Agent to Farmer ratio in Ghana is far below the international standard,” he said.
“While the acceptable ratio is 1 AEA to 500 farmers, in Ghana, it is 1 AEA to over 1,500 farmers. This gap constrains knowledge transfer and adoption of modern agricultural practices.”
The Minister said as part of efforts to address the issue, 10,000 youth were being enrolled on the National Service scheme under a four-year programme.
He said each year, a portion of the youth would be retained as permanent Ministry staff to augment agricultural extension delivery.
“This is to clear the backlog of students who have completed the Ministry’s agricultural and veterinary colleges from 2015 up to date and have not been posted,” he said.
Mr Opoku reiterated that by investing in the frontline of service delivery, the Ministry was cementing the foundation for modern, climate-smart and data-driven agriculture.
GNA