The Ahafo Ano South West District Department of Agriculture on Thursday, July 30, 2026 held a stakeholders' engagement with farmers drawn from the various farming zones across the District to identify the major challenges confronting the agricultural sector and gather development needs from their respective communities for inclusion in the District Assembly's 2027 Annual Action Plan.

The meeting formed part of the Assembly's commitment to promoting participatory planning by ensuring that the voices of farmers are reflected in policies and programmes aimed at improving agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods.

Addressing the gathering, the District Coordinating Director, Paul Atsu Agbezudor, underscored the importance of involving farmers in the District's planning process. He stated that agriculture remains the backbone of the local economy, stressing that the Assembly values the views and experiences of farmers in designing interventions that respond to their real needs.

He assured participants that the concerns raised would be carefully considered and incorporated into the Assembly's development agenda.

The District Director of Agriculture, Prince Yaw Amuzu also urged farmers to openly discuss the constraints affecting their farming activities, explaining that the information gathered would enable the Assembly and the Department of Agriculture to develop practical solutions and mobilise the necessary resources to address them.

During the engagement, farmers highlighted several challenges affecting crop and livestock production across the District.

For cereals and legumes, they identified difficulty in accessing improved cowpea varieties, inadequate rice threshers, and inadequate chemicals for controlling fall armyworm.

Farmers engaged in vegetable production complained about difficulties in accessing improved seeds for garden eggs, pepper and okra, frequent pest and disease infestations, and the lack of storage facilities, particularly for tomatoes.

Under roots and tubers, participants expressed concern over the low market prices for harvested cassava, which continues to affect their incomes.

Farmers involved in poultry, livestock and aquaculture cited low market prices for poultry meat, the high cost of poultry feed, and inadequate veterinary personnel as major constraints affecting the subsector.

They also identified several cross-cutting challenges, including inadequate access to agricultural credit and financial support, the high cost of labour, declining soil fertility, inadequate supply of fertilisers, the effects of climate change, weak market linkages, and the destruction of arable lands and pollution of water bodies caused by illegal mining activities.

The farmers appealed to the District Assembly and relevant stakeholders to prioritise these concerns in the 2027 Annual Action Plan to enhance agricultural productivity, improve food security and increase the incomes of farming households.

The engagement ended with a renewed commitment from the Assembly and the Department of Agriculture to continue working closely with farmers to implement sustainable interventions that will strengthen the agricultural sector and promote the socio-economic development of the Ahafo Ano South West District.