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Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, announced his intention to create a Cereals Development Authority, among other things to promote the development and regulation of the market for products.
The Grains Development Authority, which will replace the Grains and Legumes Development Board (GLDB) established in the 1970s, is expected to have a broader mandate to absorb most of the functions that have been abandoned by the current Board.
GLDB’s mission is to produce and distribute good quality basic seeds of cereals, legumes and vegetable seeds as well as vegetatively propagated plant material from cassava, plantain, yam and citrus plants.
But with Ghana making substantial gains in the cereals sub-sector, Dr Afriyie Akoto assured that the establishment of the Authority would be a major boost for the export market and also help put in place control measures. prices. To this end, he observed that various stakeholder consultations have been carried out while waiting to table the idea with Cabinet for approval and then Parliament.
The proposed Authority is expected to significantly contribute to complementing the achievements made under the government’s flagship agricultural program – Planter for Food and Employment (PFJ), introduced in 2017. “We are building institutions to underpin the gains. that we have achieved, ”he said. declared.
Dr Afriyie Akoto, speaking at a press conference in Kumasi on developments in the agricultural sector, said other authorities would be proposed to cover other areas of the sector.
The Ministry of Agriculture, he said, is keen on Ghana becoming West Africa’s food basket, having exported over 130,000 metric tonnes of 19 food items to neighboring countries, in 2019. In this context, he tempered the speculations of some prominent members. opposition political parties that the country would experience a food crisis in the years to come.
Dr Afriyie Akoto, for example, revealed that Ghana is a net exporter of maize, with production volumes still increasing.
“Maize production has increased from 1.8 million tonnes to 3 million tonnes in 2020. Our goal is to double this figure to 6 million tonnes in the next two or three years as farmers show a keen interest in it. program that we have put in place. . “
He acknowledged that Ghana is on track to become self-sufficient in rice production, no later than 2024, and is targeting 1 million tonnes of soybeans.
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