United States delivers food aid to Ghana

Madam Mary Carlina Yates, United States Ambassador on Tuesday took delivery of 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat valued at over five million dollars at the Tema port.

The wheat is under the US government's food for peace programmes and is to be shared among three Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to address the needs of food security in the country.

The NGOs are the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which will receive 12,500 metric tons, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), 9,850 tons and Opportunities Industrialisation Centres International (OICI), 2,650 tons.

Madam Yates explained the whet would be sold to local flour mills, particularly, Irani Brothers and Ghana Agro Foods Company (GAFCO) both in Tema and the proceeds used in improving food security in the country, starting with the three northern regions.

Payment for the wheat would be in local currency. The Ambassador said the beneficiary NGOs would use the money generated to fund projects such as training in modern methods of agriculture and micro-credit to farmers to increase rural incomes through higher crop yields.

The amount will also be used to provide wells to improve access to clean drinking water, enhance child survival, increase enrolment and attendance in primary schools, as well as support vulnerable groups, including orphans, the elderly, as well as the physically and mentally challenged.

Madam Yates noted that the programme has contributed to the socio-economic development of Ghana, and that in the northern region, ADRA farmers have increased crop yields from 290 kg to 850 kg per acre over a five-year period, increasing their net profits on maize from about 76,000 cedis to 2.6 million cedis per acre.

The total enrolment in primary schools, assisted by CRS within a four-year period increased by 43 percent, while last year, the CRS girls' education promotion project, which provides take-home rations as an incentive for attendance, exceeded its target of 48,300 by 7.2 percent.

Dr Abdul Majeed Haroun, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries, said the shipment was the first of three major ones expected this year with a total of 32 metric tons. He said the programme has been in existence since 1958, and its main thrust is to bolster Ghana's food security by providing resources to the rural poor.

Dr Haroun emphasised that the wheat would be sold and the proceeds will be used to support the nutrition and development activities under the food for peace programme, which currently supports about 495,000 people in all the 10 regions.

"However, our main focus is the three northern regions, which appear to be the most food insecure," he added citing statistics indicating that 42 percent of Ghanaians suffer from some form of food insecurity.