Government officials only interested in procurement because it helps them to steal – Senyo Hosi

Economic analyst, Senyo Hosi has expressed his frustration over the failure of the Ministry of Agriculture and other government agencies to collaborate with the private sector in creating food sufficiency.

Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo morning show, Senyo Hosi told host, Kwame Sefa Kayi that officials who are responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of the agric sector are rather interested in procurement which is an avenue for them to steal from public coffers.

"The thing is not rocket science, it is like seeking to have five children in five years. You need to know that it takes nine months to give birth to a child so you will have to know that you need five years if you have one wife, and you will also need to have five wives if you want to do it in a year.

"It is simple, I don’t know how to break it down. It is not difficult but you must have love and a heart for what you are doing,” he said.

“It is all part of my frustrations with this country, people are more interested in procurements because it is what they rely on to steal. Because of that, people are not interested in the actual work that will help the country. That is our challenge,” he added.

According to Senyo Hosi, the failures of the government and the agric ministry include their inability to create an enabling environment for private investors to thrive.

“You want one million metric tonnes (of rice) and you know that your yield in this country is 3.4 metric tonnes per hectare. But here is the case the government has secured zero lands for the private sector.

"You don’t even sit with the private sector to plan, meanwhile you don’t have funding. So how do you do the work?” he questioned.

Ghana relies heavily on imports to meet its demand for food items such as rice and poultry.

However, the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo under its flagship Planting for Food and Jobs says it has done creditably well in growing the country’s agric sector.

But speaking on Kokrokoo on Monday, January 30, 2023, Senyo Hosi described the policy as a complete failure.

"How much irrigated fields do we have? Have we invested in our irrigated fields to match our needs as a country? But when you look at the billions we have spent on this Planting for Food and Jobs, which we can't see any particular thing that's sustaining the industry. I think that it's a failed project. It's a totally failed project,” he stressed.

GA/SARA