By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, Feb 28, GNA – Dr Charlese Kwowe Nyaaba, Former Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), has lauded the government’s move to revolutionise the agriculture sector to strengthen food and nutrition systems to reduce the cost of living.
According to him, investing in agriculture, making it more resilient to climate shocks and empowering farmers to produce at low cost would contribute significantly to solving the food security challenges facing the country, attract youth to the sector and create value chain jobs.
Delivering his message to Parliament on Thursday, President Mahama lamented that despite the fertile lands, human resources and abundant water resources, the country continued to spend US$2 billion annually to import food into the country.
This, he said, coupled with rising food inflation was putting a huge burden on vulnerable Ghanaian households and the government was committed to transforming the agriculture to address the challenge.
President Mahama said: “The Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA) will modernise agriculture, enhance agribusiness, ensure food security, lower food inflation, boost exports and create sustainable jobs.
“The Feed Ghana Programme will increase food production and reduce prices through projects like the Grains Development Project, focusing on rice, maize and soyabean production. The Vegetable Development Project will target crops such as tomatoes, onion and pepper.”
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview after President John Dramani Mahama’s maiden State of the Nation (SONA), after his election in the 2024 general elections in Ghana, Dr Nyaaba commended the move by the President and underscored the need for commitment and investment to achieve the objective.
Dr Nyaaba said stakeholders in the agriculture had been advocating for such initiatives over the years, adding, “if what the President is saying is to be backed by commitment, then it is welcome, but we are now tired of the jargons of every government that comes.”
He believed that there was no reason for the country to import food and vegetables because the country was blessed with vast fertile lands.
“Even in the Greater Accra Region, which is highly populated with commercial activities, there are still portions such as Dodowa and other areas others suitable for agriculture production,” Dr Nyaaba pointed out.
He mentioned that almost all the five regions of Northern Ghana had vast lands, fertile soils and water bodies in some areas and with the right investment could feed the country and export some.
“Our lands in Northern Ghana are richer than those in Burkina Faso and yet we import all our tomatoes from Burkina Faso,” he said.
Dr Nyaaba added: ‘When you take White Volta Basin to Agogo and Afram Plains, all these places have huge potential for onion production, yet we bring in onion worth about US$2 million per week from Niger, Mali and Nigeria.”
As part of strengthening the sector, Dr Nyaaba suggested to the government to reduce cost of production by restoring the import duty waiver on agriculture inputs and implements, invest in irrigation and mandate banks to offer financial support to young farmers.
GNA