Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation has encouraged the populace to consume local foods to navigate the country’s global economic disruptions.
In these challenging times, adjusting and eating more local foods is important because they are nutritious, healthy, accessible, and can help reduce imports; Our economy will also benefit from such a switch, he said.
“Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the price of commodities, especially bread, has increased, and everybody is complaining. Meanwhile, we do not grow the base like wheat in Ghana, so why will people not change our eating pattern?”
Dr. Kwaku Afriyie
Leveraging Digital Technology for Resilient Food System in Ghana
Dr. Afriyie said this at an event to commemorate this year’s Africa Scientific Renaissance Day (ARSD) celebration, a day dedicated to remembering the continent’s tremendous contribution to the rise and development of modern science and technology.
The celebration was on the theme, “Leveraging Digital Technology for Resilient Food System and Enhanced Food Security in Ghana”.
The Minister said the country needs to look at the entire food and agriculture systems as the first pillar for health delivery and as the key to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
He said there is evidence that applying science and technology through adopting the appropriate technology is vital to enhancing food security.
Food insecurity facts and figures in Ghana
Professor Charles Tortoe, the Acting Director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Food Research Institute, speaking at the event said a total of 3.6 million people in the country are food insecure.
Research has shown that About 5% of Ghana’s population is food insecure and about 2 million people are vulnerable to becoming food insecure. The report also shows that one (1) in ten (10) children live in extreme poverty and 1.2 million children live in households that are unable to provide adequate food. According to a survey conducted by the Ghana statistical service, 47.7 percent of the population in Ghana in June 2020 was affected by moderate or severe food insecurity.
This corresponds to individuals living in households where at least one individual aged 15 or more has very likely been forced, to reduce the quality of their diet, due to a lack of money or other resources, and had at least a fifty percent probability of also having reduced the quantity of food consumed.
The government should adopt a strategy by taking a critical look at the Cedi depreciation, fuel prices, and general cost of living and waiving nuisance taxes on these commodities to cushion consumers, he cautioned.
He called for the need to develop and strengthen partnerships across disciplines and sectors to ensure that nutrition solutions were holistic, practical, and built on the best information and expertise possible.
Dr. Tortoe urged stakeholders to strengthen the food systems by building a linkage between producers and consumers.
“This includes identifying or protecting agricultural practices or food sources that can close nutritional gaps,” he said.
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