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AGRICULTURE

SONA 19: Ghana now exporting food to neibouring countries

Ghana has begun exporting excess food crops to some neibouring West African countries after several years of the shameful spectacle of importing food stuffs into the country for consumption.

Date Created : 2/22/2019 1:51:34 AM : Story Author : Emmanuel Frimpong/Ghanadistricts.com

Ghana, in 2018 was said to have exported excess food crops such as cassava, rice, yellow and white maize, soya, plantain, cowpea and yam to Burkina Faso, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire in considerable quantities.

This comes after the NPP government led by President Akufo-Addo had rolled out its flagship “Planting for Food and Jobs” programme to help produce enough food to feed the country and export excess for foreign exchange.

President Nana Akufo-Addo in his State of the Nation Address to Parliament yesterday said:

"It was not that long ago that Ghana was in the humiliating position of having to import maize from her landlocked Sahelian neighbours and plantain from Cote d’Ivoire."

"Thanks to the programme for “Planting for Food and Jobs”, admirably organised by that outstanding Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, this House stands informed, that, in 2018, exports of food crops such as cassava, rice, yellow and white maize, soya, plantain, cowpea and yam were made from Ghana to Burkina Faso, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire in considerable quantities.”

According to him, the Ministry in a bid to improve on the 2018 success has again introduced new modules under the flagship programme.

These modules, he said, include, the Greenhouse Villages programme, the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programme, the Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ) campaign and Mechanization Centres programme.

He was buoyant that the success will lead to a fundamental change in attitudes towards farming practices which will go a long way to transform the sector.