IN SEARCH OF FOOD SECURITY (MON, MARCH 30, 2009)

GHANA can achieve food security only when the people are able to feed themselves locally.
Currently, we are unable to achieve food security largely because of the lack of a clear-cut policy on how to wean ourselves from imported food items, particularly rice, maize, wheat and tomatoes.
Certainly, no country can build a strong economy, if it is unable to feed its people from food grown locally.
For many years now, many people have expressed concern about the millions of dollars spent importing rice to feed our people. It is strongly believed that a little of the money spent on food importation can be channelled into a fund to provide credit for farmers to produce these foodstuffs locally.
President J. E. A. Mills said in Cape Coast that the country’s overdependence on outside support and intervention in the areas of food aid created a subservient culture, which affected the national psyche and mentality.
There are many who are in the same dilemma as the President because just like him, they find it difficult to understand why in the midst of rich resources, Ghana still goes cap-in-hand for food handouts.
We, therefore, urge the government to initiate the necessary policy interventions to ensure that the country breaks away from its reliance on food aid. Indeed, we lose our respect, if we continue to go a-begging when we have all it takes to make us a great nation.
The Daily Graphic will be the last to advocate a close door policy during this era of globalisation. What we need is the exploitation of the positive advantages of globalisation for the good of the country.
We are aware of the difficulties in the agricultural sector, such as the unwillingness of the banks to support our farmers because of the high risk factor. Also, agriculture has not been made attractive to our youth, some of whom consider any endeavour in farming or fishing as a punishment.
The Daily Graphic believes that the only way we can become self-sufficient in food production is the introduction of more pragmatic measures to attract people into farming and fishing.
The intervention, which must be meaningful and enduring, should not be limited to credit facilities and the provision of inputs, but should include far-reaching policies to open up the rural areas.
for, if, for instance, our rural areas lack good roads, good drinking water, good schools and good health facilities, no amount of credit to farmers will motivate the youth to go into farming.
The government’s Youth-In-Agriculture policy can achieve success and help to end our over-reliance on food imports if more incentives are provided to the agricultural sector to motivate people to venture into agriculture rather than flocking into the cities for non-existent white collar jobs.
The Daily Graphic reminds the authorities to factor the provision of agricultural inputs into major policy interventions to revolutionise the sector. Unfortunately, our agricultural authorities, including extension officers, are unable to disseminate the latest technological advancement in the field to enable farmers to increase their yields.
It is strange that sometimes, credit facilities and inputs such as planting materials and fertilisers are delivered to farmers long after the planting season and certainly that would be an exercise in futility.
We all relish the Acheampong Operation Feed Yourself (OFY) programme because of the successes it attained.
We look forward to the return of the OFY magic that will stimulate every Ghanaian to farm every parcel of land to help Ghanaians reduce their expenditure on food items.