The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has revealed Ghana got $100 million from food exports in 2019.
According to him, the 19 food items including rice, plantain and yam were exported to neigbouring African countries like Nigeria, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The Agric Minister revealed this in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Friday.
He attributed this feat chalked to government’s flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs.
Dr Akoto maintained that perception about agriculture, especially among the youth has changed due to the success of the programme.
He stressed that, the first three of the programme reduced the price of foodstuff in Ghana drastically.
This, he stated, is the reason for the huge profits government made in exporting foodstuff to neighboring African countries.
He said: “20 to 30 trucks of plantain from Agogo in the Ashanti Region are exported to Burkina Faso everyday.”
The Agric Minister noted that the farmers now have a market in Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou to get closer to their customers.
Dr Akoto expressed worry about claims that there is food shortage when in fact the situation is different in other regions.
“It is only in Accra that people are crying about high food prices, the situation is different in Kumasi, Bono and Tamale,” he added.