5% of Ghana's population is still hungry

Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - Five per cent of Ghana's population goes to bed hungry each day, a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recent Report has shown.

The Report further disclosed that the said population was mostly farmers in the rural areas especially the in northern regions of the country.


Mr Musa Saihou Mbenga, a representative of the FAO, disclosed this in Accra on Saturday during a 'Walk for Food Programme,' which forms part of activities to mark this year's World Food Day on October 16. It was organized by the World Food Programme in collaboration with the FAO and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).


The World Health Organisation (WHO), National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association Ghana (NFFAWAG), Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and the Amen Amen Institute, a religious group, also helped to organise the event.


Mr Mbenga said this year's global report by the FAO puts the number of people who were hungry at one billion.


He said the FAO together with other partners had targeted to reduce the figure by half by 2015.

Mr Mbenga said though the Organisation was committed towards achieving the said target, investments in the agriculture sector had been reducing for the past 25 years.


"With the commitment by the G-8 and G-20, there will be more investments in agriculture so we may see a trend towards reducing the one billion hungry people by 2015," he said.


He said the World Food Day had been set aside by the United Nations General Assembly to raise the awareness of the fact that some of the world's population go to bed hungry each day.


Mr Mbenga lauded government's strategies towards addressing the food security and accessibility in the country but called for increased investment in the agricultural sector to ensure adequate nutrition for the citizenry.


He called for increased investments in sustainable land management, irrigation, good and well developed roads and storage facilities especially in the rural areas.

Mr Mbenga said; "Markets need to be properly developed so that farm produce could be easily collected, transported, transformed and its value and shelf life increased to facilitate easy distribution." He said this would enable Ghana to come out of being a deficit country to a net producing and exporting country.


Mr Sam Attipoe, from MOFA, who read a speech read on behalf of the sector Minister, said the Kwame Nkrumah Circle was chosen as venue for the event to remember the contributions of the Late Dr Kwame Nkrumah towards ensuring food security in Ghana.


"He set up the national agricultural institutions, farms, irrigation schemes, silos and distribution networks throughout the length and breadth of the country in order to ensure food availability all year round," he said.


Mr Attipoe lauded the gallant initiative by Dr Kwame Nkrumah saying that the country still benefits from his foresightedness. "Our walk this morning from Kwame Nkrumah Circle through the heart of Accra and ending at the beach of the Atlantic Ocean, which is the source of fish and food for our people, is a firm announcement of the need for food security as envisaged by the FAO, WFP and government," he said. Other activities slated for the commemoration of World Food Day include a food forum at the Civil Servants' Association Auditorium on Tuesday and a flag raising ceremony on Friday at the Independence Square.