Fact-Check Ghana has found President Akufo-Addo’s claims on food security and economic growth, made during the recent UN General Assembly, to be false.
At the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2024, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo asserted that his government’s Planting for Food and Jobs initiative had significantly improved food security and stimulated economic growth in Ghana. However, Fact-Check Ghana has verified these claims and determined them to be false.
The detailed findings from Fact-Check Ghana are outlined below.
Claim: “We have also taken significant steps to boost food security and economic growth through the programme planting for food and jobs.”
Verdict: False
Explanation: This claim was also featured in the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 Manifesto, presented on August 18, 2024, in the Western Region.
Fact-Check Ghana previously worked on this claim and found it to be false.
In that report, Fact-Check Ghana analysed the Global Food Security Index (GFSI), which assesses 113 countries based on factors like affordability, availability, quality, and safety of food.
The data revealed that under the Akufo-Addo administration, Ghana has not demonstrated consistent improvements or boosts in food security, despite capital-intensive interventions.
Below is a table summarizing Ghana’s rankings from 2013 to 2022 in the GFSI:
The data shows that Ghana has not shown consistent improvement in food security during the Akufo-Addo administration.
Although there was a peak in 2019, the country’s rankings declined again after 2020, with Ghana ranking 83rd out of 113 countries in 2022 (the latest ranking).
These results suggest that the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative has not significantly improved food security in the country over the period Akufo-Addo administration.
To evaluate the claim of economic growth through the initiative as claimed by President Akufo-Addo, Fact-Check Ghana reviewed reports from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the central authority for economic data collection in Ghana.
Below is a table of Ghana’s GDP growth rates from 2013 to 2024, based on GSS data:
According to the GSS data, economic growth under the Akufo-Addo administration has been inconsistent. There was a peak in 2017, where growth reached 8.1%, but since then, growth rates have fluctuated, with a sharp decline to 0.4% in 2020 reportedly due to the COVID-19. Although recovery efforts post-2020 saw some improvement, overall, the economy has not shown consistent and sustained growth.
Based on the data on both food security and economic growth, the claim by President Akufo-Addo at the UN General Assembly that his government has made “significant steps” in improving these areas through the Planting for Food and Jobs program is false.
The Global Food Security Index data shows a lack of consistent improvement in food security, and economic data from the GSS reveals that economic growth under the Akufo-Addo administration has been inconsistent.