NPP Will Re-focus ADB As An Agricultural Bank � Yoofi Grant

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has pledged to re-position the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to strictly focus on Agriculture. Speaking at the final Citi FM organised Roundtable Discussions on the theme, �The Future of Agriculture in Ghana�, the Coordinator of the NPP�s Manifesto Committee, Yoofi Grant stated that the move was necessary �and there is no way around it. We need to focus on ADB as an Agricultural Bank, give them what it takes to make them an Agricultural Bank and support agriculture; period! � Mr. Grant explained that it is easier for foreigners to venture into high scale agriculture than their Ghanaian counterparts much to the detriment of local farmers. In his opinion, local farmers �are probably accessing funds at a liable and today liable is 0.5 percent compared to a farmer going to borrow. He is probably going to borrow at a higher end of 30 percent. It just does not make sense and it just is not possible.� According to him, another reason why farmers in the country experience difficulty in accessing loans to fund their businesses is because �a lot of the other financial institutions think agriculture is such a high risk area that it makes it difficult to lend to farmers.� The NPP therefore has promised to lessen the burden on farmers by facilitating agro insurance schemes for them �to make it easier for them to acquire loans from banks.� He also indicated that the NPP will radically transform and modernize agriculture to create inputs and resources for industrialization as a stronghold of Ghana�s economy.