The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Chamber of Agribusiness, Anthony Morrison has said the Planting for Food and Job (PFJ) initiative does not in any way sustain an economy.
According to him, the project by the incumbent government is by documentation coming to secure what we grow and eat and not provide jobs as the name of the project suggest.
“There’s nothing about the PFJ that will help sustain the economy. PFJ is only coming in to secure what we eat and grow. That’s what the document says, going by the document exactly.”
He holds that the project does not bring any other value to the table but to promote patronage of what we produce in Ghana. He however went on to suggest some critical areas the state could employ and enlist in the documents of the Planting for Food and Jobs document.
“PFJ is not assuring people jobs, markets, it’s not giving technology, it’s not supporting farmgate value additions, those are critical areas to help uplift an economy but these areas are missing in the PFJ documentation.”
Explaining his assertion, he stated that countries do not thrive on small businesses rather, invested technology and facilities to harness the benefit.
“No country has developed on the basis micro businesses. Peasant farming is a sustainable issue but for you to commercialise farming, you need to bring on board a number of technologies and facilities that will harness to this benefit.”
Mr. Morrison noted that the Planting for Food and Job project is still at the document stage targeting food security. Meanwhile, he emphasized that high food security does not warrant a country to be called agriculture economy.
“So, as it stands now, planting for food and jobs at the document stage and project stage is targeted at food security. And by attaining a food secured country does not necessarily give the economy the needed impetus to become an agriculture economy, no!”
However, he lauded government for the One District, One Warehouse initiative while speaking in an interview with the Vaultz News.
According to him, this is a project that should have been initiated a long time ago but it is still timely as it will address the rampant post-harvest losses recently.
“This is a good idea, something that should have been in place a long time ago right from Kwame Nkrumah’s time when they introduced the silos. Notwithstanding the problems and current challenges, this will help safeguard postharvest losses or food waste to some extent.”
Mr. Morrison stressed that for Ghana to have a robust agricultural sector, other things to add value such as technology and technical skills must be incorporated in the One District, One Warehouse initiative.
“What we do need now are technology and some technical skills to add value. The technology will also imply the tools, accessories and the various packaging materials to be able to process and package. So, those elements are very critical to make sure that we do have a very robust agricultural sector in Ghana.”
