Citizens of some neighbouring West African (W/A) countries are trooping to Ghana to buy foods due to the success of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PF&J) initiative, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has said.
Dr Afrityie Akoto said this on the Ghana Tonight show with Alfred Ocansey on TV3, Tuesday August 2.
He stated that whereas others are going hungry in their home countries due to food shortage, Ghanaians and other residents in Ghana are not experiencing same due to the abundance of foods as a result of the PF&J.
“Without Planting for Food and Jobs we’ll be going as hungry as our neighbours around West Africa who are now coming to Ghana as the bread basket to pick our surpluses to the point that we even had to limit it by saying we are temporary banning export of our produce to the neighbouring countries,” he said.
“Of course other west African countries are going hungry that’s why they’re coming to Ghana to pick our food. Our surpluses and you’ll just have to travel to Ejura and other places to see those days the number plates of trucks crisscrossing Ghana, picking up surpluses to feed their own countries.
“As far as Kano in Nigeria, they were coming here to buy our rice,” he stressed.
Planting for Food and Jobs is a flagship agricultural Campaign of the Akufo-Addo-led government, with five (5) implementation modules.
The first module PFJ (Crops) aims to promote food security and immediate availability of selected food crops on the market and also provide jobs.
This module was officially launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo at Goaso on April 19, 2017 in the then Brong Ahafo Region.
The five Modules are: •Food Crops (PFJ) , Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), Greenhouse Technology Villages (3 Villages), Rearing for Food and Jobs ( RFJ), Agricultural Mechanization Services (AMSECs).
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana