At last the rain is here. Over the weekend, the whole country experienced the first downpour in 2012. This reminds us that another farming season is around the corner, and that it is time to once again till our land and plant crops. We wish to call on the vast majority of the citizenry particularly the youths to actively participate in this farming season, so that collectively we can achieve food self-sufficiency which the leadership of the country has been emphasising on.

Let us not forget that the country is in a food crisis as last year’s crop season was a total failure. Maximum utilisation of this year’s farming season would boost our crusade against hunger and quest for food self-reliance.

In fact, the failure of the last cropping season should serve as a wake-up call on us all to always see it as a national duty to venture into agricultural activities as a gateway to defeating poverty. One thing is certain; by growing different crops, we will have a better chance of having enough of the right kinds of crops to meet our various needs and those of our families. These might include crops that mature at different times or those that can be easily stored, and thus help to ensure a stable food supply throughout the year.

Furthermore, growing a wide range of crops may help farmers provide a nutritionally-balanced diet for their families, and exploit different but positive methods of farming, in order to diversify their sources of income. Additional income with which to buy more clothing and household goods will undoubtedly stimulate other parts of the economy. There will be an increase in demand for services of food processing, storage, transportation and marketing. Thus, a small increase in farm output increases demand for other goods and services and becomes a catalyst for a broad-based economic growth.

Already the government has demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that the country registers a bumper harvest at the end of the planting season with procurement of seeds and fertilizer and other farming equipment like tractors are certainly at hand.

And as citizens, we should be proud that the president himself and the government in general are going the extra-mile to ensure that all the necessary support is given to our farmers. The farmers, on their part, should take maximum advantage of the incentives provided by government, and ensure the country registers a bumper harvest at the end of the season.

We therefore hope that people are fully prepared to go and work in the farms. An agrarian nation is a wealthy nation. The rainy season is the period to take control of our natural environment to achieve the much desired development that the leadership of the country has always been advocating for. Besides, farming will greatly reduce unemployment.

The youths also need to take up the challenge. They are the cream of the society. Venturing into farming operations will greatly serve as a catalyst to curtail unemployment and make them to live respectably. Let us all come together to till the land for our own benefit.

Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the socio-economic transformation of every society, whether directly or indirectly.The more vibrant the agricultural sector of a society is, the easier it attains development. The sector provides the people with both food and income which are major requirements for social progress. Growth and expansion of the sector is therefore everyone’s business.