Agricultural policy consultant Emmanuel Wullingdool has highlighted that Ghana’s current agricultural landscape is heavily reliant on maize and rice, leading to nutritional gaps in the food supply.
He noted that rising food inflation has significantly impacted the nation’s overall inflation rate, underscoring the need for targeted interventions. “Our food system in Ghana has generally become a maize and rice kind of thing. I mean, maize and rice have dominated our food system.”
To enhance food security, he stressed the importance of developing localized policies that cater to the specific needs of different regions.
While efforts have been made to reduce post-harvest losses, he argued that these measures remain insufficient. According to him, many farmers face challenges in marketing their produce, leading to wasted resources despite taxpayer funding intended to support agricultural initiatives.
Mr. Wullingdool proposed that if the government is committed to boosting production, it must also implement effective strategies to manage post-harvest losses. “If the government is supporting production, then it should equally put in place mechanisms to address post-harvest losses.”
He criticized the gap between well-documented marketing policies and their practical execution. Drawing from the cocoa sector, where the government announces purchase prices ahead of the harvest, he suggested that similar approaches could be applied across the broader agricultural value chain. “If the government is committed, I believe these are things that are doable because others have done it elsewhere, and it worked for them,” he said.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Gifty Eyram Kudiabor|Bolgatanga
