Best Farmer seeks Council of State position

A two-time national best farmer, Gustav Annor Owiredu, who is contesting to become the Eastern Regional representative of the Council of State, has appealed to delegates to endorse him to use his rich experience in farming and business to help revamp the national economy.

Forty-year-old Mr Owiredu, who has a BSc. Degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Akenten Appiah Mensah University, made the appeal through the Daily Graphic at Akyem Oda as part of his campaign tour of the Eastern Region.

Mr Owiredu was adjudged the 2016 National Best Snail Farmer and 2018 National Best Youth Farmer, as well as the 2009 Eastern Regional Most Promising Youth Farmer and the 2020 Eastern Regional Overall Best Farmer.

According to Mr Owiredu, in collaboration with the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture, he carried out an outreach programme in senior high schools across the country on the many opportunities in the agricultural value chain.

He said he had single-handedly converted 650 illegal miners across three mining districts into agribusiness enterprise entrepreneurs.

Mr Owiredu said he was engaged in full-scale agro-processing by adding value to his farm produce.

He said as an agribusiness entrepreneur and consultant, he had acquired 5,000 acres of land for agribusiness.

Among his future plans, Mr Owiredu hopes to acquire a 10,000-acre land to be used as an incubation centre for the youth in agriculture production as his contribution to reduce the unemployment problem in the country.

In his view, land litigation is a major hindrance to massive agricultural production in the country and, therefore, appealed to the government and traditional rulers to help find a lasting solution to the problem.