Fall armyworm defeated – Owusu Afriyie Akoto

The Minister of Food and Agriculture Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has said that disclosed that the fall armyworm destroying farmlands and crops in the country has been conquered.

Speaking at the nation-building updates on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, he said the fall armyworms destroyed about 12,247 hectares of farmlands in the country.

“When it comes to the fall armyworm, we have defeated the army. In 2017 we lost 12, 247 hectares of precious farmland to that army.

“Because in the year when we took over innocently, we didn’t know that, that army has started a year before and the previous administration didn’t do anything about it. So, while I was doing that planting for food and jobs, suddenly everything popped up destroying our farm lands and soil.”

He further revealed that out of the 80 warehouses being built across the country, 51 of them are ready.

The government will soon commission the completed warehouses, he said.

“We decided that we were going to build 80 warehouses across the country and I am glad to report that out of the 80, 51 are ready to be handed over to me,” he said.

He added “We inherited a warehouse capacity of 34,000 metric tons and we are able to add 80,000 metric tons capacity.”

He further revealed that the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has given 300 pickups to extension officers.

This, he said, is to enable them assist farmers with best farming practices to improve on their yields.

Dr Afriyie Akoto said that the government is determined to ensure food security in the country, hence the investment.

“Three hundred pickups have been given to extension officers so that they can move with the farmer and teach them modern methods of farming,” he said.

The government, he noted, also intends to make horticulture a major source of foreign exchange earnings.

“We want to make horticulture major source of foreign exchange earnings fort Ghana. We want to change the whole narrative and we will be exporting more. We can make it,” he said.

The programme was on the theme: ‘Becoming the West African Food Basket’.