Ghana’s food security to worsen in the coming months – Peasant farmers
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana has warned of a worsening situation of the country’s food security if urgent actions are not taken.
The country has recorded a decline from the 78th position in 2016 to the 82nd position in 2021 on the Global Food Security Index published by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The Peasant Farmers Association’s disclosure comes on the back of recent assurances of a thriving agriculture sector by the Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
According, to the Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Mr. Charles Nyaaba, the Agric Ministry has been urged to increasingly engage stakeholders to ensure effective solutions for the improvement of the sector are developed and implemented.
“We are saying that we are likely to record a worsened food security situation in the coming months because food prices at the farm-gate have been increasing significantly since we started harvesting. At the beginning of the harvest season, (that is in October), a 100 kg of maize was going for less than GHC200. Last week, that had increased to GHC 240, yesterday it was GHC 260, today it is GHC 270 even before you bring it to the nearest market. Now, apart from the price increase on a daily basis, there is even a shortage.”
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“So we tried to draw the attention of the Ministry to find solutions to the problem, only for the Minister to come out and try to discredit all of the work in the sector. Our message is that the Ministry needs to open up and work more with farmers to ensure we all arrive at effective solutions that improve the fortunes of the sector,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has said the supply of food improved tremendously under his watch as the Minister of Food and Agriculture.
His reactions come after AfricaSeeds, the implementing agency for the African Union Seed Programme, honoured him with the title “Seed Champion of Africa” in 2019.
The agency recognising the immense benefits that quality seeds bring to crop production and convinced of the catalytic role that seed demand and farmer awareness can play in building a robust seed industry, Dr. Akoto has faithfully and strenuously introduced and implemented his government’s flagship agricultural programme, Planting for Food and Jobs, since 2017.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, inaugurating the Board of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) in Accra on Thursday, March 10, 2022, said “I have been given an honour of an award by the African Union as the ‘Seed Champion’ of Africa so you’re speaking to a champion…and it’s working.”
“Anybody who goes outside Accra into the country will bear witness to me that food security in this country has strengthened substantially.
“If you go the north, you will meet a lot of trucks with foreign number plates from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali picking grains from our farmers, our markets in Ghana. This was exactly the reverse before we came. We were importing foods from around the neighbouring countries into this country,” he added.
