The Minority in Parliament has claimed that the closure of the Niger border owed to the country’s military takeover, has finally exposed Ghana government’s Planting for Food and Jobs policy as a “colossal failure.”
Trucks of onion and their drivers have been stuck at the border for several weeks, as a result of the border closure caused by the Niger coup.
In response to the complaints, Eric Opoku, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Food and Agriculture Committee, chastised the current administration for importing vegetables that were intended to be grown under the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative.
“It is obvious that we are not able to produce enough onions in Ghana to meet the demand here. So, we import a lot of onions from Niger. We spend over $100 million annually to import onions and ginger to support local production. The coup in Niger and the subsequent closure of the borders are seriously affecting the traders.
“I have already said that the Planting for Food and Jobs programme has been a monumental failure. We invested so much in the programme, but we achieved nothing. All the items that were captured under the programme, we are still importing in larger quantities.”
Eric Opoku
Due to the political upheaval in Niger, vegetable costs have skyrocketed, with sacks of vegetables now costing between GHC1,500 and GHC1,600. If the situation is not resolved swiftly, industry players fear that prices may climb to GHC4,000.
Onion Sellers Seek Gov’t Intervention To Get Locked-Up Trucks Released
Onion suppliers in Ghana requested that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo intervene to facilitate the release of their locked-up trucks from Niger.
They believe that if the trucks were not released, onion prices would skyrocket.
Truckloads of onions were impounded at Ghana’s northern border due to Niger’s military takeover, which was a result of ECOWAS sanctions against Niger. Due to the restriction of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger, the onion drivers have been stranded at the border for days.
According to Sani Abubakar, President of the Accra Onion Importer Association, onion prices are projected to skyrocket, potentially resulting in scarcity.
He said; “For now, we are at a loss. We have a lot of trucks stuck at the border. Some are at the Mali border, Burkina Faso, and Benin so, we are appealing to the government to intervene. If care is not taken we are going to sell one bag of onion at 3000 cedis.”
Sources revealed that a bag of onion now costs between 1300 and 2,500 Cedis, when it used to cost 1000 Cedis.
In response to this circumstance, Dr Charles Nyaaba, Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, stated that political instability in Niger will undoubtedly impair the supply of onions and other commodities to Ghana.
Dr. Nyaaba also claimed that the situation in Niger would have an impact on Ghana’s livestock supply.
“In recent times, we get most of our food commodities from our neighbouring countries. When you take the various types of vegetables like tomatoes, pepper, and onions, we get them from Burkina Faso and some from Togo. The onions are specifically from Niger. When you take livestock like cattle, goat sheep, we also get them from the same areas. So obviously, this is going to have a serious impact on the supply of those commodities in our market.”
Dr Nyaaba
Moreover, he said that while Ghanaian farmers produced these commodities, local production is insufficient to meet market demand, however, necessitating dependency on neighboring countries.
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