- Advertisement -

Increase production to meet demand for grains, cereals from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso et al – CWAN to farmers

- Advertisement -

Farmers within the five regions of the north are being encouraged to invest more resources into scaling up to meet the ever-increasing demand for grains and cereals. This will mean that farmers will be able to supply enough food produce to buyers from West Africa while also meeting internal demands.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Women in Agriculture and Nutrition (CWAN), a Non-governmental Organisation based in the Upper West Region, Emmanuel Wullingdool was speaking to A1 Radio on the back of comments that foreigners including Burkinabes and Indians had invaded Ghanaian markets purchasing grains and cereals at exorbitant prices thus affecting local aggregators.

Mr. Wullingdool said that moving forward, farmers and agribusinesses should take advantage of the current situation in the West African sub-region to produce more. He explained that due to issues related to drastic changes in climate coupled with the growth of terrorism across the Sahel, production in agriculture has been slowed. This, he said, meant that aggregators from those countries would be looking to alternatives like northern Ghana for food to feed their people.

“I see it [foreigners purchasing grains and cereals from farmers] as more of an opportunity rather than a threat. Of course, it presents some challenges in the short term, but opportunities in the long term. If you look at Niger, this year the weather has not favoured them so they are in dire need of grains. In Burkina Faso, look at the issues of terrorism and things like that. You can be sure production is going through some challenges. We should begin to look at how to project Northern Ghana, for that matter Ghana, as the breadbasket of Africa. If you find these West African neighbours coming into the country to buy grains, then is that not a signal to ramp up production?” he quizzed.

He said should the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) be implemented fully, and the movement of goods and services properly outlined for African countries, even more foreigners could invade the local markets for grains and cereals.

“As a country, we said we are subscribing to the AfCFTA, which if it becomes fully operational, it covers basically all our grains and cereals. What this means is that if you have your grains or cereals, especially the seeds, you are at liberty to sell to any African country, provided they have made the same provisions. Even without the liberalization, we are having these concerns, then, what will happen if we go in the full implementation of the AfCFTA?” he asked.

The Executive Director for CWAN called on government to consider setting minimum prices for grains and cereals so that farmers can expand their businesses knowing beforehand how much they stand to make from their investments.

Mr. Wullingdool expressed worry that looking at the issues regarding production in the Sahel coupled with the production challenges in Ghana and the inability of local aggregators to meet price requests from farmers, Ghana could face food shortage should government fail to intervene.

A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz| Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana

- Advertisement -

MOST POPULAR

- Advertisement -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related news

- Advertisement -