The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has outlined the government’s plans to transform agriculture into a profitable enterprise through the establishment of processing
The report indicates that the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has outlined the government’s plans to transform agriculture into a profitable enterprise through the establishment of processing facilities across the country to provide ready markets for farmers.
It further notes that addressing Parliament’s Assurance Committee on Thursday, July 9, the minister stated the initiative forms part of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government’s flagship Feed Ghana programme, which includes a sub-programme known as Feed the Industry.
According to him, the policy is designed to increase food production, create jobs and strengthen the country’s food security by linking farmers directly to agro-processing industries
“In the NDC Manifesto, we made a firm promise to introduce a programme called Feed Ghana, and then under that programme, we have a sub-programme called Feed the Industry. The two together should lead to increased food production, job creation, and food security for our nation.
“Basically, these are the three things that we are looking for as a nation.”
Mr Opoku explained that the ministry is moving away from a system where farmers produce without guaranteed buyers, noting that the new strategy will ensure production is based on existing industrial demand.
“Every producer produces in anticipation of demand. If farmers continue to produce under what we call anticipatory demand, when things go awry, they won’t know what to do.
“And so, we are establishing an integrated system under which farmers will produce for specific industrial processes.”
The minister stated the poultry sector is the first to benefit from the initiative through the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme, under which day-old chicks and other inputs are being distributed to farmers to boost local poultry production.
To complement the increased production, he stated that the government is constructing a poultry processing centre at Bechem to absorb the output of farmers.
“When we started the distribution of the Nkoko Nkitinkiti, the day-old chicks, the pullers, and the rest of them to the farmers, we anticipated that the distribution, in addition to the campaign for mass participation in the sector, would lead to an increase in production.
“Now, when people produce, where do they sell? So, we decided to establish a poultry processing centre at Bechem so that when the farmers produce, the processing sector will be their uptake point, creating a ready market for them, increasing job opportunities, and then they will package them nicely and distribute them across the country and even beyond the country.”
He indicated that construction of the processing facility is progressing steadily.
“As we speak, that project, the report we have received, is almost 50% complete. We have the assurance of the contractor that, by December at the latest, the project will be completed and commissioned for the benefit of our people.”
