An economist has indicated that Ghana could experience food shortage if appropriate measures are not put in place. This is because the current climatic conditions across the country and the world could adversely affect food supply.
Prof Asafo Adjaye, a visiting fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), who disclosed this in an interview with BUSINESS GUIDE, said food shortage would record an average of 21 percent per annum over 30 years.
“Climate change will have an adverse impact on agricultural production of Ghana and the economy in general,” he emphasised.
Making references to scholarly documents published by MacCarthy & Co, Prof. Adjaye indicated that there would be reduction in the production of grains by between 19 and 42 percent.
He was briefing members of the press on the topic, “Climate change in Ghana: Impacts on Agriculture and the Policy Implications” in Accra recently. Basing his argument on a study he recently conducted, he said Ghana would also become a net importer of agricultural and food products.
Prof. Adjaye further noted that the decline in agricultural production would also cause the prices of both domestic and imported food to increase. “This situation would put an upward pressure on inflation,” he added.
The IEA fellow noted that Ghana’s Real Gross Domestic product (GDP) would decline by about 12 percent per annum by 2050.
Touching on measures government could adopt to curb the situation and combat climate change, he said government should focus on the improvement in regional climate forecasting systems and their integration in model-based decision support systems.
He further urged government to consider improvement in water storage and farming systems in addition to assigning extension officers to illiterate farmers to help them with farming practices that could lead to positive outcome despite the climatic changes.
He also called on Government to invest in biotechnology research, improve infrastructure and farm support mechanisms, as well as construct defensive structures to boost agriculture and prevent shortage of food.
