We can get out of our debts by planting enough cassava – Kofi Koranteng

Kofi Koranteng, a presidential candidate for the 2024 elections for the New Vision Movement, has expressed his thoughts on how Ghana can pay off its debt by paying attention to agriculture and adding value to agricultural foods like cassava.

Speaking on GHOne's TV State of Affairs with Lantam Papanko, Kofi Koranteng declared his thoughts on the betterment of Ghana by employing agriculture first and putting an end to illegal mining.

He said, “We could plant enough cassava to have more than enough foreign exchange reserves to pay our debt. We’re going to leave the land alone to heal Ghana. We’re not touching gold. We’re not touching the oil. No gold mining.”

“Everywhere you put cassava, you don’t even need to maintain it. So long as it’s getting some sunlight, it’s getting some decent amount of water, it grows. We can use the cassava, extract it, and get sorbitol out of it,” he said.

He continued, “We could get starch, which we could use it for the binding agent of pharmaceuticals. We could make a lot of condiments from cassava, all the soups and ingredients, condiments in the West, and starch-based. We could get that from cassava.”

He mentioned the various ways cassava can be used and how it can be ventured into different things for the uniqueness of the country.

Mr. Koranteng further said Ghanaians are not making use of the rainfall patterns and agriculture in Ghana.

He said, “We have arable lands. The soil is mineralized. You plant, you cultivate the land, and you plant something. We have an abundance of arable lands."

“We have rain, rain to the extent that it drowns us. It kills us. It creates havoc. That’s how much rain we have. We don’t have the mental capacity to put in reservoirs to hold the water and use it."

“Mining doesn’t leave us anywhere because we don’t get anything from it. Just because you’re an exporter of something doesn’t mean you get the benefits of that thing,” he added.

The presidential candidate expressed his concern about Ghana’s resource expansion.

He said, “Go to Dubai. Do they plant gold? It’s almost like gold is on the floor in Dubai because, they extend, expand, they exhaust the spectrum of value of the gold”.