Former President John Mahama says girls must be made to stay in school as long as they have the ability to.

“Girls must not only be made to go to school but must also stay in school for as far as their capacity for academic pursuit can take them.

“The practice of taking young girls out of school midstream and marrying them off mostly to men far older than them must stop…One of the most backward and unacceptable practice is child marriage. This must be a cause that we take up with passion,” Mr. Mahama noted at the Women in Agriculture Summit in Morocco on Tuesday.

Mr. Mahama also bemoaned the wastage of arable agriculture lands in Africa noting “Africa has the potential to, not only feed itself but feed the rest of the world”.

He added not “only women, but also the youth must be attracted to invest and participate in agricultural production.”