Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, has called on residents around border towns to help put a stop to the smuggling of food commodities, particularly grains from the Upper West Region to neighbouring Burkina Faso, Niger, and other countries.
The Minister bemoaned the smuggling of farm produce from the region and said it was inimical to the efforts by the government at ensuring food security for all year round.
“This region has issues with smuggling; first it was the smuggling of government’s subsidised fertiliser to Burkina Faso and other areas which have been halted due to reduction of the subsidy and now attention has been shifted to the smuggling of large quantities of grains which are harvested in abundance as a result of government’s interventions in the agriculture sector.”
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto intimated that the attitude was uncalled for and should be nipped in the bud immediately to avoid thwarting the government’s efforts of enhancing the agriculture sector.
“How do we send food, huge tonnes of grains to countries whose governments have not contributed anything to production when the very citizens with whose taxes the government is using to improve the agricultural gains of the country benefit less?”
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto
The sector minister charged the Regional Directorate of Agriculture to collaborate effectively with the municipal and district offices to check the menace and halt the smuggling of grains which was to the detriment of Ghanaians.
Subsidised Fertiliser for Farmers
The minister explained that the government subsidised fertiliser for farmers as part of the planting for food and Jobs (PFJ) programme is to enable farmers to produce in large quantities. However, he said due to the cost of fertiliser at the world market; the government is forced to reduce its subsidy on the product as was available now.
“But you will agree with me that with the improved seeds we have now, even at the current subsidised prize, you are still able to make inroads if you are able to purchase fertilizer at its current prize and apply a little.”
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto maintained that it is necessary for farmers to shift focus from inorganic to organic fertilizer as they are readily available. Meanwhile, he used the opportunity to congratulate all stakeholders for their respective roles in contributing to the food basket of the country.
Dr. Akoto stated this when he visited the Upper West Region to interact with staff of the Department of Agriculture across the region on the successes as well as gaps in the sector for redress.
Mr. Emmanuel Sasu Yeboah, the Regional Director for Agriculture, on his part, said that although the region was faced with issues bothering climate change, it is performing creditably and contributing its quota to the food basket of the nation, particularly in the production of grains like maize and soya bean.
The Regional Director for Agriculture mentioned that the region has very limited rainfall this year as compared to last year and said it affected farmers who tilled their land later in the year. He called for more interventions in irrigation to promote agriculture in the region.
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