Shortage of maize likely to hit Ghana by December - Agribusiness expert

Agribusiness expert, Kofi Kyeremateng Nyanteng, has projected shortage of maize in Ghana in either December or early next year. He said the shortage of maize may happen if farmers do not go back to the production of staple crops. According to Mr Nyanteng, commercial farmers have in recent times veered to the growing of soybeans instead of rice and maize. Speaking at the Ghana Economic Forum in Accra on October 27, 2022, the agribusiness expert said, "We have been channeling all our resources into smallholder production which I see it to be very unsustainable. Now, this year alone, because of the little changes in the system, most smallholder farmers who cultivate the key staples, that's rice and maize shifted to sorghum which is not a staple commodity." "...so how we are financing this, we have to look it at. If we don't take care, by December, January, February, March, we wouldn't have enough maize stock as we usually have in those times because about 60% of farmers that I have personally visited told me because of fertilizer, they have now doing soya," he added. Meanwhile, peasant farmers have called on government to rescind any decision to extend the ban on the exportation of cereals - rice, maize, soybeans, wheat, millet, among others after its September 2022 deadline. According to the Head of Programmes and Advocacy of Peasant Farmers Association, Charles Nyaaba, government should rather invest in the road infrastructure network to their farms to help boost their market. He stated that Ghana has many grains, however, customers cannot have access to these farms to make purchases due to the deplorable roads. ESA/FNOQ

Agribusiness expert, Kofi Kyeremateng Nyanteng, has projected shortage of maize in Ghana in either December or early next year. He said the shortage of maize may happen if farmers do not go back to the production of staple crops. According to Mr Nyanteng, commercial farmers have in recent times veered to the growing of soybeans instead of rice and maize. Speaking at the Ghana Economic Forum in Accra on October 27, 2022, the agribusiness expert said, "We have been channeling all our resources into smallholder production which I see it to be very unsustainable. Now, this year alone, because of the little changes in the system, most smallholder farmers who cultivate the key staples, that's rice and maize shifted to sorghum which is not a staple commodity." "...so how we are financing this, we have to look it at. If we don't take care, by December, January, February, March, we wouldn't have enough maize stock as we usually have in those times because about 60% of farmers that I have personally visited told me because of fertilizer, they have now doing soya," he added. Meanwhile, peasant farmers have called on government to rescind any decision to extend the ban on the exportation of cereals - rice, maize, soybeans, wheat, millet, among others after its September 2022 deadline. According to the Head of Programmes and Advocacy of Peasant Farmers Association, Charles Nyaaba, government should rather invest in the road infrastructure network to their farms to help boost their market. He stated that Ghana has many grains, however, customers cannot have access to these farms to make purchases due to the deplorable roads. ESA/FNOQ