Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chamber of Agribusiness, Anthony Morrison, has agreed on the 10% allocation of spending on agriculture demanded by peasant farmers in the 2022 government budget.
The Peasant Farmers Association appealed to government to consider allocating not less than 10% of 2022 budget to the agricultural sector.
This follows the statement made by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, disagreeing on claims that there is an increment in food prices in the country.
According to the CEO of Chamber of Agribusiness, Anthony Morrison, the allocation of 10% of the 2022 government budget to the agric sector is not bad, he said in an interview on Joy News.
Mr Morrison, however, opined that he would have pushed for 15-20% more knowing what the multiple challenges the industry is facing.
“That’s a good call but I think there is much to be done. Knowing the kind of devastation the industry has gone through… I think we can do more. I would have pushed for 15-20,’’ he said.
That notwithstanding, he refuted the Minister’s claim that prices of foodstuffs in the market place have been stable, as he argued that there has been an upward shoot.
“Now if you go into the market and look at the prices of foods now across the various market centre s, foodstuffs have increased to mostly by 17-23%.”
He further predicted that the increment of food prices will be worst coming this Christmas with the challenges they faced with their harvest situation.
He again shared his expectations with regard to the 2022 budget.
‘’We need to support local production in terms of commercial agriculture, change the narrative and concentrate more on commercial agriculture, and the development of agricultural roads,’’ he shared.
He also urged the government to do something more about the interest rate affecting the agric sector.