NAFCO leads initiative to refurbish warehouses

Work has already begun on the refurbishment of state-owned warehouses across the country as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) prepares for an expected bumper harvest at the back of the start of the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign nationwide.

The National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) is leading the initiative to revamp over 100,000 metric tonnes capacity warehouses throughout the country.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the launch of the "Planting for Food and Jobs" campaign some months ago,hinted that government plans to create additional capacity warehouses across the country to store excess produce.

Additionally, the government intends to construct 1,000 capacity warehouses in each of the 216 districts as efforts are being made to tackle food security, modernize the agricultural sector while also creating jobs.

It is against this backdrop that the Food and Agricultural Ministry, led by its minister ,Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has commenced earnest preparations towards realizing this objective.

A three-Member Committee, headed by the Acting CEO of NAFCO, Abdul Wahab Hannan, has almost completed an assessment visit to all abandoned cocoa sheds across the country which are expected to be converted to warehouses for food storage.

The Committee has so far visited BrongAhafo, Western, Central and Volta Regions. They are expected to visit Ashanti and Eastern Regions in the coming weeks.

The feasibility visit was to enable the Committee ascertain the availability, conditions, capacity and the extent of work that needs to be undertaken in order to bring these sheds in shape for operation.

The Acting CEO said the Committee identified hundreds of abandoned cocoa sheds with an anticipated capacity of more than 100,000 metric tonnes.

He, therefore, indicated that refurbishment works will soon begin once the second phase of the feasibility is completed.