WORKING TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY (SEPT 22)

REPORTS of predicted bumper harvest of our food staples, which are maize, rice and soybean, in the Northern Region of Ghana, is refreshing news.
But that news, of course, is not entirely new. However, the report provides the nation some reflections as to what direct policy interventions can help liberate us from the shackles of hunger and poverty.
As a country, we have paid lip-service to agriculture, which provides jobs for about 60 per cent of Ghana’s population.
This country abounds in fertile and arable lands across the length and breadth of the land mass and yet we cannot claim food sufficiency.
The DAILY GRAPHIC notes with enthusiasm that the anticipated bumper harvest is not something out of the blue, but one that is the result of the direct intervention of the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi.
That is why we think that a lot can be achieved if as a nation, we put our hands and minds to whatever we set ourselves.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) or inflation hinges on two main components — the food and non-food indices.
The food component only goes down during the usual seasonal periods of good harvest. The non-food component, in many cases, affects the food component, especially with regard to the upward price adjustments in petroleum prices.
The August inflation figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) show that the three northern regions experienced very high inflationary pressures on account of food prices.
Given that poverty levels in these regions are quite high, the news of anticipated bumper harvest certainly is a welcome relief.
But beyond the cultivation of food crops, we can only maintain the momentum of yearly bumper harvests, if we take pragmatic measures to provide the other support in the form of irrigation, affordable credits, inputs and storage facilities.
We may count on the good weather for this year, which has also contributed to the good produce, but the question is, can we count on nature to do the same for next year?
In many instances, what is supposed to help our farmers rather turn out to be their nemesis as the bumper harvest provides a spillover in the form of a glut and hence makes our farmers worse off than before.
The Government must also take a firm action to ensure that local competition is devoid of unfair trade practices in which some importers take advantage of the liberalised economy to dump cheap and inferior products on the local market.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is not calling for protectionist policies. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations provide that any country that can provide the evidence that foreign imports are hampering local initiatives can protect its local industry.
Evidence abounds in this country that imports are killing the textile, poultry, and rice industries.
The Aveyime Rice project has come on stream soon. This project, coupled with the intervention from the northern part of the country, will help to increase local rice production.
If the Government takes bold measures to empower our farmers and rural dwellers, we would grow the rural economy, to engender development and growth.