The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), on Monday, officially opened the 37th National Farmers Day celebration with a colourful Agricultural Fair and Trade Exhibition at the Adisadel School Park in the historic City of Cape Coast.

The five-day Fair, a prelude to the main event on Friday, December 03, will offer farmers from the various regions the platform to showcase their agricultural produce and potentials on special days allocated to them.

The Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Bono, and Western Regions are participating in Monday’s Fair while the other regions will take their turn in the subsequent days.

This year’s celebration is on the theme: “Planting for food and jobs: Consolidating Ghana’s food systems.”

Dozens of enthusiastic farmers from the six aforementioned regions have displayed varieties of crops and foodstuffs, including; cassava, yam, maize, tomatoes as well as livestock and aquatic produce at the venue of the event.

Amidst heavy security in and around the venue, the patrons were entertained by wonderful cultural displays and brass band music while Egyaa number three masqueraders from Winneba, put up a splendid performance.

Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister, in her welcoming address, described the Fair as a prelude to grand durbar envisioned to be a memorable one on Friday.

She praised farmers for their relentless contributions and lauded the government’s innovative interventions in the sector, spearheaded by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and its partners.

She said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had emboldened the Agric Ministry to support and encourage farmers to produce more food at all times.

She recounted various government interventions in the sector such as Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Food and Export, subsidized fertilizer distribution, One Village, One Dam, warehouse among others all geared towards job creation and food security.

Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Oguaamanhen, reiterated the great contributions of farmers whose efforts and hard work had sustained national food security and also contributed to about 30 percent of Ghana’s export earnings.

He touted the great impact of the government’s planting for food and jobs as the key drivers to national food security and consolidating food supply to improve the income and well-being of all farmers.