Isaac Amondem, a 38-year-old mixed farmer from Wiaga in the Builsa North Municipality, has emerged as the Upper East Regional overall best farmer in the 39th edition of the Farmers' Day celebration held at Bolgatanga. For his prize, he received a tricycle and mist blower, two matchets, two pairs of Wellington boots, a knapsack sprayer and a certificate while Naab Akajiaya Akanfeila, 58 and Madam Charity Zangina Liniyuligba, 43, were adjudged best regional livestock and female farmers respectively. They received a tricycle, blower, two matchets, two pairs of Wellington boots, a knapsack sprayer and a certificate each. In all, 220 farmers comprising 205 females and 15 males from the 15 Municipalities and Districts across the region received awards and were given prizes ranging from certificates, tricycles, motorbikes to fridges and televisions among others. The number included award winners from the regional and district levels. It was held on the theme: 'Delivering Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Se curity and Resilience.' Speaking during the celebration, Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister, said agriculture had been the engine of the country's economic development and had provided employment opportunities for the majority of the people. 'It is therefore proper we celebrate and duly recognize and honour the tireless efforts of our gallant farmers and fisher folks for their immense contribution to the agriculture sector by producing food for the growing population and industries of this country,' he said. The Regional Minister said the theme for this year's celebration was relevant in tackling the adverse impacts of climate change and the country's drive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly goals one, two and 12, which talk about ending poverty, and hunger and ensuring climate resilience respectively. He proposed innovative technologies that provided real-time data on weather patterns, pest infestations and market conditions as transformative solutions to boosting agriculture productivity. 'It is in view of this that the Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (GASIP) collaborated with the Ghana Meteorological Agency to provide weather information to farmers during the farming season. 'This has bridged information gaps and enabled farmers to respond swiftly to changing conditions and equipped them with the knowledge needed to make timely and informed decisions,' he added. Alhaji Zakaria Fuseini, the Upper East Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture, noted that despite the challenges such as the high cost of inputs, and erratic rainfall, among others that confronted agriculture production, preliminary analysis of the food balance sheet revealed that there would be food surplus in the region after the just ending farming season. He, however, noted that the Upper East region was the hardest hit by climate change impacts, therefore, the an urgent need for innovative digital technologies that provide adaptive climate-smart agriculture measures to buil d farmers' resilience to adapt to changing climate. The Regional Best Farmer noted that issues of high cost of fertilizer, seeds, farm implements and erratic rainfall continued to be major factors affecting agriculture productivity and urged the Government to work to encourage the youth to venture into dry season farming to boost food security. Source: Ghana News Agency