President Akufo-Addo launching the Ghana Zero Hunger Strategic Report in Accra.
President Akufo-Addo has reiterated government’s commitment to tackling hunger and poverty in the country as part of efforts to achieve Goal Two of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) against hunger.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Ghana Zero Hunger Strategic Review Report’ in Accra yesterday, he disclosed that “government’s vision is to modernise agriculture, improve production efficiency, achieve food security and profitability for our farmers all aimed at significantly enhancing agricultural productivity.”
“The basic objective of this policy is to guarantee food self-sufficiency, i.e. that we are able to feed ourselves and wean us off the disgraceful dependence on the importation of foodstuffs we can grow ourselves.”
“We are determined to stand on our own feet, hence our mantra, Ghana Beyond Aid.”
The event was organized by the John Agyekum Kufuor (JAK) Foundation and the World Food Programme.
This, according to the President, formed part of government’s plans to implement the district warehousing policy, promote the production and utilization of locally grown and nutrient-rich food, strengthen early warning and emergency preparedness systems.
He also touched on the development and implementation of a nutrition strategy, which adopts a life-cycle approach to deal with malnutrition at all levels, review and scale up of the Regenerative Health and Nutrition Programme (RHNP), elimination of child and adult obesity and promotion of research and development in Food and Nutrition Security (FNS).
“Indeed, we were the first country on the African continent to attain the Millennium Development Goal No. 1 of halving poverty and hunger for which the country received an award for reducing the level of its malnourished population from 7 million in the early 1990s to less than 1 million today,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo, who paid tribute to former President Kufuor who in 2011 received the World Food Prize for reducing hunger by half during his tenure, noted that much work needs to be done to end hunger, malnutrition, obesity and micronutrient malnutrition in Ghana.
To this end, President Akufo-Addo said that government has, in the Co-ordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies submitted to Parliament on 13th November, 2017, proposed the reformation of agriculture and industry spearheaded by programmes such as “Planting for Food and Jobs,”“One District, One Factory policy; and “One Village, One Dam.”
The President stressed that these programmes would facilitate rural development and help achieve SDG 2 by 2030, among others.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent