The Soya Value Chain Association of Ghana (SVCAG) has begun an advocacy programme to address some challenges confronting the soya bean industry.
This, is as a result of complaints gathered from some Soya Bean suppliers on invasion of the sector by foreigners, although, there is a ban on export in the industry.
In Ghana, the cultivation of Soya bean in Agriculture is relatively new but saddled with challenges. SVCAG, thus, began an advocacy programme dubbed: ‘Soya Bean Round Table’, sponsored by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) under its project, ‘Sustainable Employment Through Agribusiness and Market Oriented Agriculture Programme’.
The ‘Soya Bean Round Table’ was based on the theme: ‘Strengthening Partnership for Growth and Sustainability’.
In a bid to ensure that the advocacy programme was properly understood by value chain actors, the Association inaugurated the Regional Value Chain Committee.
The Executive Secretary for the Association, Yaw Afrifa, at the inauguration, indicated that the programme is aimed at improving communication between government and stakeholders in the industry.
“In 2018, we started having a challenge with our value chain. Foreigners from Turkey, Indians, Chinese have jumped now to the market buying soya. Apparently, because our soya is under the GMO, and that the prices were quite lower that time, they took advantage to our market. There was no control so what it started developing was price hikes.
“So between 2018 and 2020, a kilogram or 100kg bag, that is sold at a ¢100, was selling at almost ¢400-¢500. And our local processors, who were leaning on purely credit from our farmers couldn’t get it again because now there was ready market. Even if they had money, they weren’t that solid to be able to buy at that price and still be able to make profit in their industry. So there was so much agitation from them.”
Yaw Afrifa
This, Mr. Afrifa indicated, became the backdrop for setting up the round table to decide what to do in solving the rising challenges in the industry, and also give government that comfort about the source of the concerns raised, that is, to suggest it is coming from all the stakeholders in the seed or the green industry.
Government urged to implement a standard pricing scheme to combat foreign invasion
Acting Northern Regional Director for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Hajia Hawa Musah, indicated that the solution to address the invasion of foreigners in the sector is to implement a standard pricing scheme.
“So I will also advise that the government should also do what it can do to mitigate the exportation or illegal smuggling of our food from the country. And the government can do that by offering fair prices to our farmers and where there are value chain actors like you (speaking to the various key stakeholders in the industry), then you can also stand in to assist the government in getting the produce locally for our local consumption.”
Hawa Musah
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