Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, has disclosed that the government of Ghana has successfully completed 80 warehouses across the country.
According to the minister, the warehouses have the capacity to store up to 1,000 metric tonnes (MT) of food items aimed at ensuring food security in the country.
Dr Afriyie Akoto stated that the warehouses are ready to be handed over and would be distributed to the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), Ghana Stock Exchange, private sector organisations, and the sector Ministry for efficient operation.
According to the minister, many farmers, over time, complained of incurring huge debts because they were unable to sell their produce on time, while there were no warehouses to store the produce until they got buyers. However, the minister iterated that the completed warehouses would enable farmers store enough food, reduce post-harvest loses, improve farmer incomes and increase good marketing.
The minister also refuted claims that there is food shortage in the country, stating that the food situations in the regions are enough evidence, however, food being relatively expensive is as a result of some external factors.
Government not Responsible for Increase in Food Prices
Dr. Afriyie Akoto said the increase in food prices was not because of government policies, but external factors such as increment of imported chemicals and other external factors beyond the government’s control.
“Because of Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Programme, there are abundant of food in the country. We’re in the harvest season of maize and when you go to the savanna regions and the transitional zones such as Techiman and others, maize are in abundance, which indicates that the PFJ has really come to rescue the country from hunger.”
Dr. Afriyie Akoto
Dr Akoto explained that the PFJ initiative has five implementation modules, starting with the PFJ itself, which promotes food security via crops, namely: maize, rice, sorghum, soybean, and vegetable crops (onion, tomato, pepper, etc.) which has since been expanded to include groundnut, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, cassava, cowpea, plantain and Orange Flesh Sweet Potato.
The second module, he said, focused on expanding the cash crops, known as the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), while the Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ) sought to address the meat deficit in the country through the rearing of animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, fowls and guinea fowls.
The minister said the Greenhouse Villages Technology is one that focused on ensuring that there is sufficient vegetables for both local and international markets, while the Agricultural Mechanisation Service Centres (AMSECs) aimed at mechanising agriculture through the use of hand-held implements and modernising agriculture.
In view of this, Dr. Afriyie Akoto explained that because some of these modules are long-term, some Ghanaians are not seeing the impact of the PJF initiative, “which actually is yielding results.”
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