Farmers, feed mills anxious over maize shortage

The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has confirmed that the country’s current shortage of maize has left feed mills and processors heavily relying on imports to meet demand.

“As we speak, there is no maize in the system. What we have produced in the last few seasons have entirely been consumed and there is no buffer. Consumers and processors now have to rely on imports from the Sahel regions to meet local demands,” former Executive Director-PFAG, Dr. Charles Nyaaba, told B&FT.

Dr. Nyaaba was commenting on the investment made in the Planting for Food and Jobs policy by government, and said the policy did not bring any positive impact on production and supply of the targetted crops.

“The main objective of PFJ to ensure that we have enough raw materials for industry; specifically with maize, it has not happened,” he added.

The PFAG is worried that price of maize on the local market is still skyrocketing, with a 50kg bag of maize currently sold at GH¢300 and more at some locations.

The Association questioned the essence of PFJ 2:0 when phase-one of the policy has not solved basic issues which the initiative was designed to do.

Indeed, the Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association (GAPFA) and other feed mills in the capital have expressed frustration over lack of maize on the local market for poultry feed production.

A source at GAPFA (not designated to speak for the company) told B&FT about the company’s inability to access enough maize for processing in several weeks and counting.

Despite the shortages, government has said it expended close to GH¢2.9billion on the first phase of the PFJ policy from 2017 to 2022.

The amount, according to government, mainly covered provision of improved seeds and fertiliser to increase productivity among farmers.

Similarly, an amount of GHȼ1billion has been allocated for implementing the second phase – PFJ 2.0.

This is in line with efforts aimed at improving the country’s food security while reducing rising food import bills and addressing youth unemployment.