Food Insecurity Blamed On Break Down of Storage Facilities

Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Food and Agriculture, on Thursday noted that the current food insecurity in the country could be attributed mainly to the break down of storage facilities.

He said though production levels of foodstuffs and other agricultural products were quite encouraging, there were no storage facilities, efficient marketing strategies and outlets such as the defunct Ghana Food Distribution Corporation (GFDC) resulting in post harvest loses.

Major Quashigah was opening a six-month course on general agriculture, at the Kwadaso Agricultural College in Kumasi for the staff of the Cocoa Services Division (CSD). The staffs of CSD are being absorbed into the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) following its abolition.

The course is being organised by the Human Resource Development and Management Division (HRDMD) and the Extension Services Division of the MOFA and sponsored by the COCOBOD.

About 238 workers of the Division are expected to benefit from training in skills and techniques in general agriculture, to enable them to properly fit into the mainstream MOFA.

The Minister said he was surprised that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was blaming the government for the high prices of food items and said the party could not do anything about similar developments when it was in power. Major Quashigah said the government has already evolved mechanisms for revamping the agriculture sector, including the rehabilitation of storage facilities. Major Quashigah stressed,"the NPP did not foresee the magnitude of the economic mess until it assumed power".

He therefore urged Ghanaians to co-operate with the government to enable it plan and implement realistic strategies, to bring the economy back on track.