There is no food shortage in Ghana

The Minister of food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto has stated that there is no such thing as a food shortage in the country.

“There is no food shortage in Ghana as is being speculated, the food situations in the regions are enough evidence, however, we recognise that food is relatively expensive due to external factors”.

The Minister mentioned that the increase in food prices was not due to the government policies in Ghana, but other external forces.

As part of the official tour, he spoke with the staff of MOFA and farmers in the Eastern Region to confirm that the government is taking steps to reduce production costs and reduce the impact on consumers, even if there are external factors beyond their control.

“We are encouraging farmers to switch to organic fertilizers produced locally to reduce the impact of fertilizer shortage on food production and urged the far west to switch quickly to the use of compost.”

Regarding bank financing, the Minister said the government is looking for possibilities to coerce banks to lend a portion of their loans to farmers for improvement.

He said that the problem of farmers’ inability to secure loans from banks should be solved. He noted that several of the bank’s attempts over the years have proved futile, adding that the bank prefers to lend to entrepreneurs rather than farmers.

MOFA Eastern Regional Director, Mr Henry Crentsil said there is evidence of high yields from cultivation for food production, job and other interventions despite fertilizer shortages and production costs.

He added that farmers’ attitudes for example towards high-yielding seeds, especially corn, have risen sharply, indicating that food is plentiful and that current price increases are seasonal.

As part of the trip, the minister visited several private commercial farms, including the Legacy Crop Improvement Centre (LCIC), the Otareso seed production centre in the Akuapem North District, and toured the facility’s code room warehouses.

The group carried on to visit farms of Ibu at Kwame Duodu.

The farm belongs to the best crop farmer in the West Akim Municipality, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim. His agriculture includes plantations of coconut, oil palm, pineapple, cassava, corn, poultry and livestock.

The Minister and his associates carried on to PINORA Limited, an Asamankese-based fruit juice processing company, and to Sahmens Farms at Adeiso, belonging to a medical doctor in the person of Dr Samuel Odor Mensah.