The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that there is an abundance of food in the country as a result of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme initiated by his government.

Delivering the final State of the Nation Address for his first tenure in Parliament today, the President said the Planting for Food and Jobs programme has vindicated his government and has saved the nation from food shortage especially with the emergence of COVID-19, which caused a strain on various economies around the globe.

“During this COVID-19 crisis, we have, mercifully, been spared the spectre of food shortages. On the contrary, thanks to the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme, food is in abundance in our country,” the President told Parliament.

The President explained that the excellently executed policy for Planting for Food and Jobs has laid the foundation for the agricultural transformation of the country and that Ghana is now a net exporter of food, as we no longer have to import basic foods like plantain and tomatoes. He added that the dramatic turnaround of the country’s agricultural fortunes seen is due to the progressive policies that have improved the living standards of farmers in the country.

Speaking on the pursuance of industrialization, modernization and creation of jobs for the young people of the nation, he pointed out that the One-District-One-Factory programme is part of the anchor on which his government is building the comprehensive industrialization of the country, adding that much of the work has now been done to put in place the framework for the rapid implementation of projects.

“The factories, that are currently in place and in production, reflect the underlying principle of the programme, which is the equitable distribution of development projects around the country. The prospects of our becoming the automobile hub in West Africa are growing stronger every day, with the investments being made in the country by global manufacturing giants in the automobile industry,” he revealed.

President Akufo-Addo further intimated that the proactive decisions taken by government to fight the pandemic as well as revitalize and transform the economy with the one hundred-billion-cedi Ghana CARES ‘Obaatampa’ Programme, anchors bright prospects for the medium-term. He gave assurance that the Government would continue to implement prudent fiscal measures to quicken the pace of fiscal consolidation, saying that in March this year, the Minister for Finance will come before the House to provide further details on the measures to be taken to restore our country back to the path of economic recovery.

Touching on other successes chalked, President Nana Akufo-Addo said the Government, in four years, had recorded a number of significant milestones in the quest to formalize and modernize the Ghanaian economy. He mentioned the National Identity Card rollout, the National Digital Property Addressing System, the interoperability of mobile money transactions, the introduction of the paperless operations at the port, e-business registration system, and access to digital financial services as some of the drive to formalize Ghana’s economy, and enhance its productivity.