Bryan Acheampong
Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has said the government is working around the clock to prevent any food crisis.
To this end, he said the government is planning to ensure the importation of some foodstuffs by September 20, 2024 while it hopes to complete the distribution of seeds and fertilisers to drought hit farmers by the middle of September 2024.
Speaking on PM Express Business Edition recently, he noted the dry spell that was currently being experienced in the North, should actually impact the country from the end of September.
“However, the measures that we are implementing should ensure that the situation is minimised and prevent us from getting into a crisis”, he said.
Additionally, he said the government has secured the commitment of partners and stakeholders, both internal and external to avert food crises.
Drought has hit parts of Northern Ghana affecting a lot of farms due to climate change and the lack of irrigation to support all year cropping.
Parts of Northern Ghana have been hit by a dry spell this year destroying several farms in the part of the country.
According to the minister, some farmers could not take advice from extension officers hence the situation.
“The farmers were told to delay planting because of the change in weather patterns”, he said.
“Preliminary reports indicate that about 928,523 farmers and 1.86 million hectares of crops were at risk. Those farmers would lose an estimated investment of GH¢7.4 billion if there was total crop failure”, he added.
He revealed that maize, rice, groundnut, soybean, sorghum, millet and yam were the most widely affected crops across the Northern, Upper East, North East, Savannah, Upper West, Bono, Bono East and Oti regions.
Compensation
The government is proposing GH¢1000 per hectare as initial financial compensation to the affected farmers but some have described that as insufficient.
Dr. Acheampong said about GH¢7.4 billion has been lost by the farmers, who were expected to realize about GH¢22 billion in revenue had the season been good.
“The financial package, is just a fraction, of the total package, which will include other things as well. The government is committed to assisting the farmers in these times. What we have put forward as compensation was based on an extension on ground investments and the current state of Ghana’s financial position to meet all these obligations,” he assured.
Indicating that the money would be sourced from a combination of the Contingency Fund, budget realignment and development partners, he added that government had planned an estimated GH¢8 billion ($500 million) plan for various interventions, mainly to support farmers affected by dry weather to ensure food security.
By Samuel Boadi