Members of the newly inaugurated National Fertiliser Board in a group photograph with Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto (middle
THE MINISTER for Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, says plans are afoot to construct a fertiliser production plant in Ghana as part of efforts to promote local fertiliser consumption by local farmers.
According to the sector minister, government’s flagship program, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), depends hugely on fertilisers and improved seeds, meanwhile Ghana does not produce a single kilogramme of fertiliser as the country depends 100 per cent on imported fertiliser.
He said government has been working to attract foreign investors to come exploit the gas for fertiliser production.
The minister made these revelations at the inauguration of the National Fertiliser Council (NFC) board in Accra yesterday. He added that government was already in discussions with a fertiliser manufacturing company in Morocco, with Ghanaian representatives led by the chairperson of the newly inaugurated NFC board, Nana Serwaa Bonsu Amoako.
Dr. Akoto disclosed that the project, which would cost around $2 billion and would take up to four years to build, forms part of efforts by government to transform agriculture in the country through the use of quality fertiliser and improved seeds.
He said with Ghana currently producing 25kg per hectare of fertilisers as compared to the 8kg it was producing prior to the assumption of office of President Akufo-Addo in 2017, it still was not enough to meet the 50kg per hectare benchmark set by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“What this means is that there is a huge demand gap that we are yet to fill. If we are able to press on as we have done in the last 5 years, we should be able to reach the ECOWAS bench mark in the next 3 years,” the minister stressed.
Nana Serwaa Bonsu Amoako stated that, “we have advanced in our quest to achieve this vision. All the project preparatory work and detailed feasibility studies have been completed together with our private investors, and we are set to cut the sod for the construction of the fertiliser manufacturing plant in the coming months.”
BY Nii Adjei Mensahfio