GHANA HAS ENOUGH FOODSTUFFS — AGRIC OFFICER (BACK PAGE)

Story: Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah, Sunyani

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Mr Emmanuel Asante-Krobea, has said that Ghana has not been hit by any acute food crisis as there are enough food crops such as maize, yam, cocoyam, plantain, etc. on the market.
He pointed out that the increase in food prices was only temporary, and indicated that with the setting in of the rains, there would be fresh maize and yams on the market to normalise the situation.
Mr Asante-Krobea said even though the prices of food crops were a bit high, the situation in Ghana could not be compared to other parts of the world.
According to him, there is enough food in the Brong Ahafo Region, which serves as the food basket of the country, adding that once there is food at the producing centre, the people should not panic that there is food shortage in the country.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Sunyani, Mr Krobea-Asante pointed out that a visit to the Techiman Market, which he described as a national market, would reveal that there were all kinds of food crops, such as maize, yams, plantain, cassava and cocoyam for people to buy.
He, however, admitted that the prices of those food items had gone up, citing for instance, the price of maize which had shot up by about 200 per cent of what pertained last year; he disclosed that maize was now selling around GH¢ 60.
“But I don’t think there is much crisis in the country, and now that the rains are coming, the food situation will come to normal and the problem is going to come down as things stand now,” he assured.
He said with the rise in the price of maize, a lot of farmers had massively gone into maize production, and now that the rains had gathered momentum, farmers would start harvesting fresh maize, thereby bringing down the price drastically for consumers to buy.
Mr Asante-Krobea further gave the assurance that within the next one-and-a-half months, the other fresh staples would be in the market.
He said there was plenty of plantain and other food crops at Goaso, the capital of the Asunafo North District and its environs in the region to cushion the perceived nationwide situation.
The regional director of MoFA, however, noted that what was now worrying was the decision by poultry farmers to reduce their stock, as a result of the high cost of maize and other feed ingredients to feed their birds.
He said with such a decision in place, there was going to be a drastic reduction in bird population in the country, thereby resulting in high prices for poultry products.