State of the nation 2021 – agriculture update

POST COVID

“Mr. Speaker, our nation’s food resilience has been severely tested over the past year. The closure of borders, in the midst of the pandemic, meant that we have had to depend largely on food we produced.

We have fared well under the circumstances, largely as a result of the bold policies implemented by Government since 2017, such as the programme for Planting for Food and Jobs, Rearing for Food and Jobs, the 1-Village-1-Dam initiative, 1-District-1-Warehouse policy, establishment of greenhouse villages, revitalisation of the cocoa rehabilitation programme, and the reactivation of our aquaculture industry.

I am happy to inform the House that, during this period of the pandemic, we have experienced no food shortages in the country.

There have been increases in maize and rice yields by one hundred and ten percent (110%) and forty-eight percent (48%) respectively.

We have, for the first time in a long while, become a net exporter of food, as opposed to the days of importation of tomatoes and plantain. Indeed, in 2019, we exported some one hundred and forty thousand metric tons (140,000 MT) to our neighbours.

We are determined to take full advantage of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to produce more in Ghana, to sell more to Africa and beyond, as we move Ghana Beyond Aid. ” H.E Nana Akuffo Addo, 2021.

COCOA

“The Agreement for a Strategic Partnership between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire has bound our two countries in even closer intimacy, especially in the cocoa sector. We have succeeded in aligning the cocoa production and marketing policies of the two countries, and ensured that we do not continue to be victims or pawns of a global cocoa industry that is dependent on the toil and effort of our farmers.

A new trading mechanism has been implemented, and has ensured that a new cost item of four hundred United States dollars (US$400.00) per ton, for every cocoa sold by the two nations, effective from the 2020/2021 season, is paid to our farmers.

Through the establishment of the Tree Crops Development Authority, Government is determined to end the over-reliance on cocoa, and develop other cash crops such as cashew, cotton, mango, oil palm, rubber, and shea.” H.E Nana Akuffo Addo, 2021.

Source – presidency.gov.gh