GHANAIANS SHOULD PATRONIZE LOCAL PRODUCTS

By Sandy Kobby Jah Dzidzornu

A walk through our markets in recent times clearly depicts what the next generation is bound to experience if they don’t patronize local manufactured goods.

The lack of patronage of the locally manufactured products sets the nation on a high risk of developmental retardation.

Years back, Ghana was tagged as a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) by the former president, H.E John Agyekum Kuffour.

What lessons did we learn from the situation the nation went through as an individual?

The key factors in ensuring that people patronize the local manufactured products are growing, advertising, processing and above all the purchase of the end product.

It's about time citizens of this noble country stop depending on our leaders and the government as a whole.

Ghanaians should rather come together; motivate the farmers in cash, kind and even pieces of advice that can assist them to bring quality products for processing.

As citizens, let's cultivate the habit of purchasing what the farmers produce.

This will serve as an indirect motivation to the farmers to continue producing more since a ready market is available.

The media also has a major role to play in the transformation of the economy when they advertise made in Ghana goods; this creates awareness and draws people attention to the products thus boost the patronage of that products, goods or services.

The performance of various financial institutions must be applauded although there is more work to be done.

In as much as the citizens have their role to play, the government also has a keen role to play in the development of the agriculture sector.

The government must provide farmers with requisite resources and farming implements such as fertilizers, farming tools, seedlings and the needed motivation to strengthen them to do their best. 

However, there's a perception that local manufactured products are of low quality.

This statement can't be falsified because I purchased a bag of made in Ghana rice and to my dismay, the rice contained lots of impurities.

This should not also be enough reason to deny the local farmers the right to manufacture goods, I believe, the quality of the products can be improved if only our industries are well equipped with necessary resources and farming implements.

 Let us come together and build a better Ghana through agriculture.

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