There is no shortage of cassava - Minister

Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, the Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), has debunked suggestions that there was shortage of cassava in the country.

He said the country produced enough cassava to feed the populace, however, there was an appreciated value addition to cassava which made people think there was a shortage.

Alhaji Limuna, speaking at the meet-the-press series to highlight the interventions, achievements and the way forward of the ministry’s activities, said: “Going into the cultivation of cassava is an investment that we need to consider as a country.”

He said currently, there was increased use of local resource materials such as cassava and maize by some breweries in Ghana to replace imported barley for their beverages.

That, he said, would be classified as manufacturing activities and “we should not lose sight that local raw materials used are outputs from the agriculture sector”.

He said in the main, due to delay in onset of rains in 2015, agricultural production was very minimal with most of the trading and processing activities subsumed under the service and manufacturing sectors.

In 2015 the sector grew at 2.4 per cent after accounting for the third and fourth quarters.

Alhaji Limuna said substantial investments either from the public sector and private sector was in the right direction.

He said the ministry was investing in innovative methods such as Centre Pivot Irrigation Systems and Greenhouses to improve efficiencies along the numerous value chains.

That, he said, was being adopted around the country through collaborative efforts between the ministry and private agribusinesses.

He said the modernisation drive also called for a systematic approach towards creating efficiencies along the numerous value chains and the ministry was working assiduously with all stakeholders to achieve the target.

“Some of the investment being made will yield the desired impact in the medium to long term,” he said.