The Chief Executive Officer of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), George Abradu-Otoo, has assured farmers in the Upper East Region that the company will soon begin purchasing surplus food produce to address the perennial challenge of glut.
The assurance follows growing concerns among farmers over post-harvest losses due to lack of ready markets.
Speaking during his working visit to the region, where he interacted with rice farmers at ICOUR in Navrongo, Mr. Abradu-Otoo acknowledged the frustrations of farmers.
“We’ve heard the cry of the farmers, and I want to assure them that I will take a look at our warehouses, repair them, and then we can buy the excess produce that is in the system,” he said.
According to him, efforts are underway to rehabilitate storage facilities to make them suitable for large-scale procurement and storage.
“We realise that most of them have just minor repair works to be done and that’s the reason why I’m here—to take a look at them, go back to Accra, get contractors to repair them so we can buy the food and store them,” he explained.
He noted that proper warehousing involves more than just structures, stressing the importance of maintaining quality.
“When we talk about warehousing, we don’t only mean the structure. There are some things that go with the warehousing, and those are the things we need to get right before we can buy the excess produce… to maintain the nutritional value and make sure they are wholesome for human consumption,” he added.
Mr. Abradu-Otoo further disclosed that financial arrangements have already been initiated to support the exercise.
“We’ve already started the process… the 200 million that was given to Buffer Stock will be used as a source of mobilising for the farmers,” he revealed.
Speaking to the media, he assured farmers that procurement activities would commence soon.
“They should give us about two weeks… very soon they will start seeing our teams coming around to buy their produce and store them in our warehouses,” he said.
The NAFCO CEO emphasized that the initiative will not only reduce post-harvest losses but also create a reliable market for farmers, while ensuring a steady food supply to institutions such as Senior High Schools and Technical and Vocational institutions.
“And when the time comes, we will release them onto the market, using the schools as the ready market for that type of activity,” he added.
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