The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Bryan Acheampong is projecting prices of foodstuffs will go down by more than 50 percent in the coming months.
According to him, government has implemented measures to improve food production and also support farmers from the negative impact of the recent dry spell.
“Because of this, we are expecting prices to go down, up to April next year, and this is based on verifiable data at the Agric Ministry”, he said.
“We are beginning to see the results of prices of some foodstuffs going down around March and April this year”, he added.
Dr. Acheampong disclosed this on PM EXPRESS Business Edition on October 10, 2024, with host George Wiafe.
The discussion looked at the State of Ghana’s Food Security and the recent measures introduced by government to contain the dry spell.
He announced that government has supplied 200,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer to farmers.
“Government is also working to invest about 80-million-dollar worth of inputs into the market, that will help keep prices at some very low levels going forward”, he added.
Dry spell measures and concerns
Dr. Acheampong assured that government is working hard to provide the relief to only farmers affected by the recent dry spell.
“Over the years, the Agric Ministry has led a lot of initiatives that extend support to farmers and the data is there for everyone to verify the beneficiaries”, he said.
He pledged that all farmers affected by the dry spell will adequately supported to boost the country’s food stock.
“We have instituted several measures that will ensure that the affected persons get the inputs needed”.
Speaking on the interest free loans is extended to farmers, Dr. Acheampong said the aid will go to commercial farmers who suffered from the dry spell.
“We have about GH₵50 million and government is planning to use that to take up the interest cost on these loans”, he revealed.
He assured that the loans will not be “handouts”, but rather channeled through the Agricultural Development Bank to support the farmers.
He rejected arguments the outlook for the food supply is bleak, arguing that the future looks promising.
He disclosed that the ministry has so far been able to secure about GH₵3.6 billion out of the GH₵8 billion target.
Source: Joy Business
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