<p></p><p>The flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has reiterated his commitment to reverse the decline in the country's support for agriculture, which, he said, has been one of the greatest deficiencies in the current National democratic Congress (NDC) administration. <br></p> <p>In his meeting with Muslim communities and some cashew farmers at Sampa in the Jaman North District, Nana Akufo-Addo sympathised with the cashew farmers for being seemingly neglected by the current government. <br></p> <p>He promised to revive the agricultural sector where cashew farmers will be focused mostly, in order to make meaningful impact to transforming the country's economy and the lives of the farmers, when voted as president. <br></p> <p>Nana Akufo-Addo's assertions follows a recent ban on the export of raw cashew nuts by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, on March 14, 2016, which has sparked misgivings among key stakeholders, including Members of Parliament, farmers and buyers associations, and traditional authorities, particularly, within the Brong-Ahafo Region. <br></p> <p>However, Nana Addo, speaking to the farmers, said: "I assure you that the revival of Ghana's declining agricultural sector will be a major area of priority under an Akufo-Addo government, God-willing, from January 2017. If we are to make any meaningful change in the lives of the people, our efforts must be directed at this sector." <br></p> <p>According to Nana Addo, majority of the people could only feel a change in their lives when agriculture is developed, "which my government will do next year, if only you vote for me and Siaka Stevens, your MP." <br></p> <p>Nana Akufo-Addo, in the company of Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, the Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the party, Kwaku Asoma Cheremeh, and other national and regional executives, took the opportunity to address the farmers when they joined the chiefs and people of Suma-Ahenkro to celebrate the Akwantu Kese festival in the district. <br></p> <p>Some of the farmers in the district revealed that tonnes of cashew nuts are getting rotten in the Brong Ahafo Region, as cashew buyers are unable to export nuts to foreign markets due to an export ban placed on the commodity by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. <br></p> <p>Though the ban was enforced as part of measures to improve the local processing of cashew, which is expected to create jobs and add value to agricultural products before exports, buyers of the produce say, out of the 950,000 bags of cashew produced in the country, factories in the country have the capacity to process only 35,000 bags, leaving over 900,000 bags to rot. <br></p> <p>By Michael Boateng<br></p><p></p>