World Bank calls on Ghana to check population growth?

Accra, Aug. 15, GNA - Mr Javed Talat, Executive Director of the World Bank on Monday called on the Ghana Government to fashion out mechanisms that would help check the ever-growing population to solve development challenges.

He said Technology was fast moving towards reductions in job creation such that unchecked population growth could become disastrous to developing countries in terms of high rates of unemployment.

Mr Talat made this call when he led a World Bank delegation to visit Vice President John Dramani Mahama at the Castle, Osu.

He said the World Bank had a financial facility to support developing countries to check population growth and suggested to developing countries to adopt such measures in order to advance their economies.

Mr Talat who is on a visit to Ghana to assess the country’s performance as part of his economic constituency commended successive governments for stabilizing the country, adding “I want to congratulate all of the leaders of Ghana for maintaining peace and tranquility over the years and I must add that Ghana stands out as a country of progress with political stability.”

The Executive Director also appealed to developing countries to intensify agricultural production to become self-sufficient and net exporters of food to the developed countries whose food reserves were becoming exhausted.

“Luckily, Ghana has a lot of fertile and arable land and therefore needs to take advantage of it to step up your production levels to become the food basket of the West African sub-region.”

Vice President Mahama said Ghana had a comparative advantage in agricultural production and that Government had therefore prioritized it to become the food basket of the continent.

He said Government had embarked on a programme to adopt effective technology, provide micro-credits and improved seeds, as well as technical know-how which was already yielding dividends in the country.

Vice President Mahama explained that the new services had moved production levels from two tons to six tons per hectare since last year, and gave the assurance that it could be increased further within this year.

He said currently Government was facing some financial hardships due to the implementation of the single spine salary structure and the payment of some debts that had over the years hanged on government.

The Vice President attributed some of the success of Government to the vibrancy of the Ghanaian media and the civil society organizations.